The Heir to the Title of Big Boss
by VFSNAKE
Summary: Big Boss dies at the end of MSG4. After reconnecting with The Boss, he is called upon to train another to be his successor, but this time...the world he's in is not the one he knows, and neither is the student he is to train with the help of a few others.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-Rise of the Fox

"This is good...isn't it," said Big Boss, as he took an intact of his cigar, and closed his eyes for what he thought would be the last time at the sacred grave of the woman he considered to be his spiritual Mother known to all as "The Boss".

Jack could only smile in the fact the two would be together as a family again on the other side, regardless of it being in Heaven, or more likely in Hell after the people killed at his hands. He wanted to laugh at that, if he had the strength to smile anyway, and think of the entire FOXHOUND unit in general to be one big dysfunctional family with The Boss as the strong Mother of them all, the Sorrow being the strange yet loving Father, and Ocelot being their son by blood while Jack himself was the stepson The Boss always wanted.

For the extended family on Jack's side, it would have been Eva being his shy yet strong when required to fight of a wife, which meant Solid, Liquid, and Solidus Snake being his children. The end result making The Boss a Grandmother, which Jack knew would have made the strong woman happy if only one of them, most likely Solid Snake being the most loved of the three Snakes along with Frank Jaeger was a lot like Jack in terms of surrogate son, and the same was also said for Solidus's surrogate son Raiden.

"_One must die and one must live. No victory, no defeat. The survivor will carry on the fight. It is our destiny... The one who survives will inherit the title of Boss. And the one who inherits the title of Boss will face an existence of endless battle._"

Those had been The Boss's words years ago. Now there was no one left for him to fight, the past foes they had fought were dead, or no doubt dying. It was time for Jack to stop living this life of war and just...go home to his loving Mother and that special woman he loved...Eva!

'No more battles for me. I'm coming home Boss,' thought Jack, as he felt his spirit leave his body, and join his surrogate military family in the afterlife.

If there was ever an answer to the question of whether there was a Heaven of Hell could possibly be answered by Big Boss if allowed to reenter his body and tell his son due to the fact he felt himself to be in both. Big Boss believed in many things during his time being a solider, which included a strange sense of karma, as he found himself standing in the very place The Boss had been killed known as Rokovoj Bereg, and found himself to be semi-young again.

"Hello Jack," said The Boss, as she appeared behind him from one of the thick trees he had at one point hid behind when being shot at, and saw her in the white sneak suit she wore all those years ago.

The Boss looked the same now as she did back then.

"Boss!" said Jack, as he felt compelled to salute her like a solider should, and saw that loving smile she always gave with pride shining in those tired eyes.

"You don't have to salute me anymore Jack. I'm here not as your superior officer, but as a Mother come to embrace her son, and welcome him home," said The Boss, as she hugged her surrogate son, and Jack hesitantly at first returned it.

"May I call you...Joy?" said Jack not knowing what else to call her.

"Of course. I always preferred that to The Boss. Though considering _your_ title after I was defeated, you must have wished to keep the title of Snake, or Saladin from what I have heard of the many titles given," said Joy seeing Jack wince at that.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Joy. Forgive me," said Jack before he got on his knees and looked up at her tears running down both of his eyes despite the eye patch.

"I already have Jack. What was asked of you in terms of your mission was hard to do. I know. My own mission was hard for me too because it required I betray your trust, our bond, and love we formed for each other. When I look at you Jack, I see the second son I could never have after all that happened, and loved you as if you were my own," said Joy, as she looked at her surrogate son, and cupped his head felt him press his face against her stomach crying for the first time _ever_ since even before he killed her.

"I felt like I died inside when I killed you. I hated myself for what I had done and began to drown myself in the many battlefields I engaged in to numb the pain," said Jack feeling Joy's hand petting his hair and feeling droplets of tears fall on him from her eyes.

"I know Jack. I died the day I betrayed you. I knew the very second I threw you over the bridge that day, we could not go back to the way things were, and changed everything for us. But now...now we can put this horrible bloody chapter in our lives behind us and not just because were both dead. We can move past it because we want to move past it and mend the ties between us that we didn't wish to willingly break," said Joy smiling down at her child knowing that Jack was her son regardless of the asterisk mark next to that title that would state it was surrogate.

Surrogacy be damned! He was her son in every sense of the word and she'd fight anyone to the death who tried to challenge it.

"I only have one regret since that day when things broke between us on that bridge," said Jack now slowly standing before Joy.

"What?" said Joy wanting to hear what it was he regretted.

"Not joining you. When I learned you asked the old members of the Cobra Unit to join, they jumped at the chance to follow, and part of me wished I had been asked too. If you had asked...I would have followed," said Jack seeing Joy crying further now and hugged him tighter.

"I was tempted. I was tempted to give you the offer knowing you would follow. But deep down I knew that if I did, you would never reach your full potential, and become the great soldier I knew you could become," said Joy, as she had been tempted to say "join me", and have Jack among the ranks of Russian forces.

But she knew in her heart of hearts that it would only hinder more then help him.

"A potential that is needed once more," said the Sorrow, as he appeared behind another tree with Ocelot, and Frank Jaeger doing the same with his body shifting from his human body to the exoskeleton he was given prior to the Shadow Moses incident.

"The Sorrow? Ocelot? Frank?" said Jack seeing the three of them smile at him.

"Its been a long time Big Boss," said Frank, as his voice shifted slightly from normal to electronic when his body shifted to the exoskeleton ninja form he wore during Shadow Moses.

"Indeed it has," said Jack shaking his surrogate son's hand.

"The afterlife has done wonders for your appearance...brother," said Ocelot, as he was no longer the elderly person he once was, and now wore his GRU uniform show the rank of a Major while having his short blonde hair with revolvers at key places along his hips to perform a quick draw.

"You to...brother," said Jack grinning at his stepbrother and the man returned it.

"What did you mean by Jack's skills being required again?" said Joy, as she had thought that once Jack finally died, he'd be with them here in the afterlife, and be allowed to have peace.

That was what Sorrow assured her would happen when Jack physically died.

"Time has no meaning here Joy. You know that. Even as we speak, the world we've come to know has gone by in heartbeat, and everything we knew about our ways has long since been lost. The world no longer uses gun, but spiritual energy called Chakra, and war has sprung up on multiple occasions with no real chance for peace to truly settle. Even the current peace the world has in effect now is impure, tainted, and poisonous with what is holding it together being a thread as thin as a single strand of hair. The world needs a new Big Boss. Jack is needed in the world of the living to train another to one day become Big Boss," said Sorrow seeing the shocked looks on both the legendary soldiers and knew this was unexpected.

But The Sorrow had seen what the world had become of itself without Big Boss. He had used his powers to see things, as they past by day after day, Month after Month, and year after year until the world became as he described. While he agreed the world didn't have room for snakes in it anymore, The Sorrow also agreed with Joy when she stated the world had room for one Boss, and it was time for a new one to reappear to stabilize the world.

"So I'm to be sent back to train someone to become the new Big Boss? My Heir to the title like Joy did with me?" said Jack not wanting to do that to anyone.

It was bad enough his three sons tried already while trying to kill each other.

"Not in the way you're thinking. More importantly, I've found you the promising student you, and these two beside me will assist in the child's training," said The Sorrow seeing Joy and Jack looking at him like he was nuts.

Maybe he was.

"Care to show me the student you chose before I make my decision?" said Jack, as he saw The Sorrow nod, and saw the look of sadness on the man's face aimed at Joy for doing this to her.

"Of course. This is the boy in question," said The Sorrow, as he used his abilities to shift the environment around them to show a boy alone, in pain, and hated by those around him.

"What's the boy's name? More importantly...why is he hated?" said Joy seeing the events of mobs attacking the boy when younger and saw Frank was straining himself from the desire to slash these people to pieces even though they weren't in the physical plain of existence to do it.

"His name is Naruto. Namikaze Naruto to be exact, but was given his Mother's Maiden name Uzumaki by the Sandaime Hokage, and the reason he's hated...is because of the nine-tailed demonic fox named Kyuubi currently sealed inside of him. One of the key differences between the world we know and this one that we don't. His Father performed the sealing, wishing his son to be seen as a hero, but the people wouldn't let that happen, and have made his life miserable ever since," said The Sorrow seeing the looks of rage on the faces of his family looking at the memories of events long past.

"Why didn't you bring this to our attention sooner upon my arrival?" said Jack seeing the Sorrow end the painful show they just watched.

"Because I didn't know about it until recently when I sensed a rift between this realm and the living after the boy recently used the fox's powers in a moment of rage. The boy is loyal to those around him, but I fear it is loyalty forged by lies with the truth being held from him, and it will no doubt be his undoing," said The Sorrow sadly seeing Jack now narrowing both eyes though only one was seen by the former Cobra member.

"He's being manipulated. Like what Major Zero did with us. He was the one, who feared The Boss the most, and had set things in motion for everything that happened with our family. He even set things into motion to turn my eldest son against me after I formed Outer Heaven and wanted him to join me. This Hokage is manipulating events to keep the boy under his thumb by playing the kind old man while secretly allowing this abuse while stopping it before the abuse turn lethal. It's a form brainwashing, which makes the victim believes his savior cares, but is in fact involved in the inflicting of the pain, and gains the victim's absolute loyalty," said Jack having seen such crude use of brainwashing before when it came to child soldiers in training.

I hurt you, yet I save you just so you'll be loyal to me, and only me when its time to put you to work kind of programming.

Again, it was very crude, slowly progressing, and yet sickeningly effective when used on a single individual.

Like the blonde blue eyed boy they had just witnessed get abused.

"Exactly. Jack, I know you don't want to do this, but the world needs a Big Boss, and this child has the potential to become something great. The village he is in will _never_ let that happen and he will only achieve his potential if given a proper teacher to guide him," said The Sorrow seeing Jack run a hand through his hair.

"_How _would I-_WE_ even train the kid? How can we train him if we won't even have our bodies?" said Jack seeing The Sorrow smile.

"Simple. Your spirits will be in _his _body," said The Sorrow seeing the raised eyebrow of Ocelot and Frank was looking at him like he was crazy.

Well...crazier then usual.

"Want to run that by us again?" said Ocelot knowing this was crazy even for him.

"Your spirits will enter the boy's body, _but_ you stay within his mindscape, where you will meet, and train him in the skilled art. Everything the three of you have ever learned will be passed onto this boy and he will use them to their fullest extent.

"No guns. I know you said they don't use them in the world now, but I don't want to teach the kid how to make, and fire one," said Jack not wanting to bring about such weapons that could easily kill people.

"Agreed," said Frank, as he saw Ocelot look reluctant, but gave in at the end, and nodded his head about not teaching the boy about guns.

"Very well. I suppose using guns in this day and age with the kid wouldn't be necessary since they have so many unique ways of killing people without them," said Ocelot seeing his Father smile at him.

"Excellent! I'll take you into his mind now," said The Sorrow before the four of them vanished and left Joy alone.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

"And here I thought the sewer system under Volgin's damn Russian fortress was bad," said Jack finding himself ankle deep in water, as he saw Ocelot looking around to see the pipes above being blue, and red with the latter seemingly leading somewhere.

"This way," said The Sorrow sensing the Kyuubi nearby.

Sure enough the four soldiers of war walked towards the golden colored bars, which held the Kyuubi, and saw that the cage was a mess with purple snake like chains around it. When The Sorrow put is hand on it, the image of someone hitting the seal from outside of Naruto's body came into his mind, and knew this was a seal meant to block the Kyuubi.

"So this holds the big bad fox," said Ocelot with his hands on his hips.

"You have something against foxes? Oh yes, that's right. You lost your arm to me back in Shadow Moses," said Frank laughing at the gunman and seeing Ocelot glare at him.

"Knock it off you two. I need to remove this seal placed on the original so we can speak to the Kyuubi," said The Sorrow using his powers that connect him to spiritual realm and manipulate the dark seal placed around the one already placed on Naruto.

The moment The Sorrow did that however, did the room brightened in a crimson glow, and the once tolerable presence of the Kyuubi behind its golden cage now becoming a near crushing experience for them all. They looked through the cage, seeing the Kyuubi grinning its massive teeth at them, and its eyes looking at each of them.

_**"And what do we have here? Four souls from the beyond, here in this weak vessel of mine, and in front of my cage? For what purpose are you here? Speak!" **_said Kyuubi narrowing its eyes at them while lowering the pressure of its power slightly to make at least one of them speak.

"Greetings Kyuubi no Kitsune. I am called The Sorrow. I along with the three souls here behind me wish to help your vessel become stronger. To become the ideal soldier. The ideal Shinobi. And if nothing else...then the ideal host for you Kyuubi no Kitsune," said the Sorrow seeing the narrowing crimson eyes of the fox gazing into his eyes.

_**"You are not from this timeframe in the world. I sense that much from the four of you. I also sense...you are from...before my **__**own**__**!"**_ said Kyuubi its eyes widening in surprise at such news.

"Yes. Each of us is a Master of warfare from the days of old before you were ever created by whatever means breathed life into your form. These three behind me are the best that ever existed in their time in the world's bloody history in terms of war. With their help, you will have vessel _worthy_ of his status in being your host, and will not bow to the fools within this village," said The Sorrow seeing the Kyuubi's eyes burn with fury at the slight mentioning of the Leaf.

_**"Those arrogant fools! I hate this village for what they have done to this boy in order to make him weak and twist his mind to their whims. It sickens me!"**_ said Kyuubi, as it had seen the boy's memories, tried to talk to the child on more then one occasion about the lies told, but the seal was stopping such a chance, and it was just so damn infuriating!

"Give them the chance to teach your vessel and break free of this village's hold on him by showing him the truth needed to break the chain of lies," said The Sorrow seeing the fox looking at him now with those fury filled eyes burning with what seemed to be the power of Hell itself!

_**"Very well. Now that the snake's seal on this damnable seal is removed, I will use this moment in time to bring the boy here, and let him know what is going on,"**_ said Kyuubi while closing his eyes to concentrate using what power he could us on the boy.

(With Naruto-Outside of his Mind)

Naruto was furious! Irate Pissed off! Whatever you wanted to call the term, he was angry, and wanted to hit something until it broke. Never in his life had he been so mad, even when the reason behind his abuse by the village was made known to him during that big incident with Mizuki, and that was saying something Why? Because his fucking teacher, the all so great Hatake Kakashi had decided it was better to teach Sasuke alone, and not train both his two student who made it to the _Chuunin Exam Finals_!

That wasn't the worst of it either that made him so angry.

(Flashback)

"What do you mean I can't see Sasuke?" said Naruto, as he wanted to see his teammate, and this bitch of a lady wasn't going to let him see the Uchiha.

"_You_ are not allowed to see him _demon_. Now get out of here before I call security and they _make you _leave here in not such a walking state," said the woman sneering at the boy with disgust.

"Don't worry. _I_ will escort him out," said Kakashi appearing behind Naruto and put a firm hand on the boy's shoulder before turning the boy away.

"Why? Why is it that you, Sakura, and all of Sasuke's fan girls can be allowed to see him with me being the only exception? Or do I really need to ask?" said Naruto seeing the Jounin narrow his one eye at him.

"No. You don't. Frankly Naruto, I don't think its in your best interest to see Sasuke right now, as you have to train to fight Neji, and you can't do that here," said Kakashi while seeing Naruto's mix with joy and fury over training to fight Neji after the crap the older boy pulled on his younger Hyuuga of a cousin.

"I suppose you're right Kakashi-sensei. What time should I see you for training?" said Naruto seeing Kakashi raise an eyebrow at him as if he just told a strange joke.

"Training? Naruto, I'm not going to be training you. I'm training Sasuke," said Kakashi like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"What? Why can't you train me too?" said Naruto seeing Kakashi again look at him with the "are you serious?" like appearance on his masked face.

"Honestly? Naruto, I don't really think you have what it takes to beat Hyuuga Neji due to being a prodigy, and Sasuke is fighting a much tougher opponent. A foreign Shinobi is far more dangerous to fight, then fighting one of our own, and Sasuke needs to have my undivided attention," said Kakashi seeing Naruto's eyes burning with rage at him for this betrayal.

"A foreign Shinobi is _more _dangerous? Did you not see what that _prick_ Neji did to his own cousin? The teme nearly killed a member of his own family and probably would have too if not for the medics that for to Hinata in time. I think you have your facts in reverse," said Naruto seeing Kakashi's eye narrow dangerously at him.

"Are you questioning your Jounin _superior_ Naruto? Because if you are, I'll see to it you are removed from the Chuunin Exams, and have your Shinobi license suspended," said Kakashi seeing Naruto's eyes widen before they narrow dangerously too.

"So that's how it is huh? You're just like all the other assholes in this village. You _want _me to lose! Maybe even die. Well I got news for you Hatake-_baka_, Uzumaki Naruto does not go down easy, and if you try to take me down...you better have a fucking army at the ready to back you up," said Naruto walking away from the surprised Jounin.

"Don't you want to know who I asked to take my place in teaching you?" said Kakashi seeing Naruto stop and glance at him.

"Why? It will just be one of the many jerks here in the village, who hates me, and will try to sabotage my training. As if anyone could call your way of doing things _training_ since all you do is focus on Sasuke while I'm cannon fodder with Sakura being a human shield for your precious Uchiha. Tell the guy you hired to go screw himself, you, or Sasuke for that matter. It seems to be the only thing you three are the best at!" said Naruto raising his right hand and gave the finger while walking away.

(Flashback Ends)

When Naruto was far away from the hospital, into the forest of one of the many training grounds of Konoha, the blonde screamed out with all his anger, smashing through all the trees around him, and cursing the people in the Leaf for screwing him over. People in the Orphanage, the civilians, the Shinobi, the Academy Instructors, and even the Hokage for some reason that deep inside felt right. Like a secret, even bigger then Kyuubi was there in the wind waiting to be told, and yet the powers that be were keeping it locked away out of his reach.

It was infuriating.

Falling to his knees, Naruto felt exhausted from using his rage in what felt like a fraction of his usually much larger reserves of stamina, and collapsed before unconsciousness claimed him.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto found himself deep within his mind, which he had been in before, but always felt like it was a dream, and when asked about what the place was to the Hokage...the old man had looked nervous though explained the place he saw was nothing to be concerned about. At the time, Naruto had no reason to doubt the Hokage's words in leaving it alone, but now after the facts about Kyuubi being sealed inside his body, and the abuse he had suffered for it made sense that this place was _not _some kind of reoccurring dream.

"I hate my life," said Naruto walking through the water filled floor and felt a pull towards a single place that seemed to be calling for him.

"The kid's finally here. Took you long enough fox," said Ocelot to the fox growling at him.

_**"Be silent mortal! The seal the Yondaime Hokage placed on him to lock me away is not making things easy for me. All it will let me do is give what chakra I can to help heal him and even then such an ability has been used on injuries received from the fools in the Leaf rather then the enemies **__**of**__** the Leaf,"**_ said Kyuubi before seeing the blonde make his way up to the cage and see him along with the others.

"So you are sealed inside of me," said Naruto calmly, but the anger at the realization of the truth being seen before his very eyes only hurt more, and stared at Kyuubi without any fear at all.

_**"You were expecting it to be a lie?"**_ said Kyuubi with a raised eyebrow.

"Considering all the crap I went through with the village because of you...absolutely!" said Naruto with a hint of sarcastic tone into his words while seeing the fox chuckle at him like he just told a joke.

_**"Not a chance kit. You're stuck with me, as I am stuck with you, but fear not for it seems help has come to you in the most **__**unlikely**__** of fashion, and not even **__**I**__** suspected would appear,"**_ said Kyuubi motioning for Naruto to look to his right to see the four legendary soldiers standing there.

"W-Who are you? How did you get inside my head?" said Naruto seeing The Sorrow step forward and smiled down at him.

"I am The Sorrow. Behind me are three of the greatest legendary warriors the world long ago has ever known. I brought them here to help you Naruto. We have seen your pain and we wish to help so you won't suffer anymore," said The Sorrow, as he pointed to Big Boss, Revolver Ocelot, and Grey Fox all waiting to introduce themselves.

"You all want to help me? Why?" said Naruto, as he was cautious of getting help from anyone since all people did were screw him over, and laugh at his expense.

"Because you have the spirit of a soldier in you. We have seen the abuse you suffered at the hands of this village, we have seen you endure it all, and that takes a strong will. One that won't be broken so easily," said Big Boss, as he walked over to the boy, and smiled down at him.

"What will you teach me?" said Naruto, as he saw Big Boss smile at him, and it was one of someone he could trust.

"The ways of strategy, survival skills, espionage, CQC, which stands for Close Quarter Combat, psychology, the use of short range weapons, and how to destroy things," said Big Boss with Ocelot standing next to him and Naruto felt like he was looking at the male version of Mitarashi Anko.

"I'll teach you how to deceive others into believing what you say. You're good already at that, but with my help you'll become a true Master of deception, and fool even the most perceptive of people around you. In addition, you'll learn the way of interrogation, and torture in order to break a person for information that enemies may possess. You may feel bad about the idea now, but the methods I will teach you will help in the people you wish to protect in the near future, and help defeat your future enemies," said Ocelot, as all his years of experience torturing people for information now taught to the creative mind in front of him would be able to take things to untold levels, and make the blonde boy very notorious in his art.

"As for me, I will teach you swordsmanship using my special kind of sword, which is a high frequency blade that cuts through anything at a high rate of speed, and then stealth combined with it to kill your enemies in utter silence," said Frank, as he saw a lot of himself in Naruto, and wished to see the boy achieve his try potential like Big Boss did with him.

"Sounds cool though I feel its going to be painful," said Naruto hearing them chuckle knowing that statement was indeed correct.

"Not only that, but you'll be training to use those Jutsus your world has, and focus on bettering your chakra control since that too will need work. Though considering you have so much, the need to control it doesn't seem to be a real issue, and we can focus on that when we can," said Big Boss, as he had seen through Naruto's memories, which he had to admit were boring, and yet they were the basics needed to get started on unleashing the kid's potential.

"What about him?" said Naruto pointing to The Sorrow.

"Sadly, I cannot train you in my own skills since I am merely a transporter of spirits, a medium if you will, and my power cannot be taught. Do not worry though young one. These three here are more then qualified to help you. Listen to everything they say and you will become stronger then you could ever imagine," said The Sorrow seeing the boy nod with determination in his eyes.

"Good! When I face Neji-teme in a Month, I'm going to make him pay for nearly killing Hinata-chan, and make him regret it," said Naruto, as the image of Neji hurting Hinata to the point of near death appeared in his mind with everyone saw the young girl around the boy's age fighting her older, and stronger cousin knocking her down despite the many times she got back up.

'This girl reminds me of Eva. Shy, yet when the time came to fight, she could hang with the best of us, and did what needed to be done. What is it with shy, yet strong women that attract the most fearless, yet most traumatized soldiers, and make our hearts ache with our blood boiling inside with a need to see justice done on their behalf?' thought Jack, as he thought of Eva, and then thought of Meryl when it came to his eldest son being the same way.

"Don't worry kid, you'll get your payback, and more when we're done training you," said Ocelot, as he saw what the others did, and knew this girl was a lot like the people they themselves knew in connection to Naruto.

"I want to get started. Right away," said Naruto seeing the four nod, but then The Sorrow started to fade away, and continued smiling at the boy.

"I must go. I have done what was needed to be done. When you leave your mind Naruto, you will have the ability to hear Big Boss, Ocelot, and Frank Jaeger talking to you inside your head. To speak back, merely think the words, and they will hear you speak as if they were standing right next to you. Remember Naruto, no matter what awaits you in your coming trials that may come, no matter what people may say about you, and no matter what dangers you will no doubt face. Know this simple fact, the spirit of the warrior...will always be with you," said The Sorrow, as he faded from their sight, and Naruto missed the man already.

"Okay Naruto. Time to enter the real world and do some hardcore training. From what I saw of your memories before you came here, the ability to use Shadow Clones was one of the few Jutsus you learned, and literally become a one man army. Start with that," said Big Boss seeing Naruto nod and leave his mind to find himself back in the forest where he fell unconscious.

'Not to question your orders or anything right away Big Boss-sensei, but...what will an army of Shadow Clones do?' thought Naruto picturing Big Boss frowning slightly.

"You mean you don't know the secret behind the Shadow Clone Jutsu?" said Big Boss knowing it was in the boy's memories that he read it.

'Well, I was kind of in a rush to learn, and didn't have time to read everything because Iruka-sensei interrupted me in my learning,' thought Naruto hearing Big Boss sigh in his head.

"Not surprising. Then again, I doubt anyone would willingly tell you given your status in holding the Kyuubi, and thus hinder your training. One of the reasons the Shadow Clone Jutsu is forbidden from what I looked at the contents of your memories in reading what you saw, the Shadow Clone transfers all the information it learns to its creator, and thus allows the user to learn things faster. Days worth of training done in hours, weeks worth of training done in days, and so on with this kind of Jutsu. For you though, it is so much more, as you can make so many Shadow Clones to do different things at the same time, and become stronger at a faster rate. Given your education up until now, I think this will help even the odds, and bring you up to your rightful level," said Big Boss, as he saw Naruto nod his head slightly before making an army of Shadow Clones.

'Okay. What's first?' thought Naruto seeing Big Boss in his head smiling before getting into the CQC stance.

"We're going to work on CQC today, which your Shadow Clones are going to learn by having them follow my movements within your mind, and have them spar with each other. After they are done, I want push ups, sits up, crunches, and every form of physical fitness your body needs to get muscled. Also, from now on you'll be going on a strict healthy diet outside of your usual ramen eating binges, and make sure you grow up to be taller. Kyuubi's already working on that part by channeling some of his chakra into your body's structure at night to increase your overall height," said Big Boss while keeping the fact the boy would be sore in the morning from each forced increase of growth though the pain would be numb compared to Naruto's workout regiment.

'I don't care about the pain. Bring it on,' thought Naruto, as he was sparring with one of his clones, and going through the stances Big Boss was doing with Frank helping.

Unknown to Naruto however, the Sandaime was watching this through his orb, and didn't like it at all.

It wasn't that the Hokage didn't like the boy, but Naruto was believed to be the Child of Prophecy Jiraiya mentioned to him, and that the boy would become powerful under the right hand guiding him. The problem was the boy could change the status quo for just about everyone, which included the Leaf, and had to be kept under control should the prophecy come to pass with the Leaf being unaffected by the changes that would come. Hence why he allowed things to happen the way they did with Naruto being abused, but then saved at the last minute, and giving the needed kindness to the boy in the assurance his loyalty would never be questioned.

'What are you up to Naruto? What is that fighting stance? Its like the Hyuuga Gentle Fist, but his hands are too close, and curled up like they are ready to grip something. Could you have made contact with the Kyuubi?' thought the Sandaime, as he had to be careful not to provoke the beast inside of Naruto during the attacks, which had some trial, and error moments with the boy not remembering anything he had unknowingly done to his attackers.

The boy just had to stay the course set upon him by the Sandaime and the Hokage just had to keep Naruto loyal to the Leaf no matter what.

Making a hand motion, a team of ANBU led by Neko appeared, and kneeled before the Hokage knowing that to be summoned by him meant an important mission.

"You summoned us Hokage-sama?" said Neko awaiting orders.

"Yes. Keep an eye on Uzumaki Naruto. I have a feeling something is off about him and its not good in the slightest," said the Sandaime seeing the group nod before poofing out of his office.

If Naruto started to realize his full potential, he would have to have Inoichi dive into the boy's mind, and erase anything the blonde learned in order to keep him at a certain level.

(Three Days Later)

Naruto was in his apartment, doing sit ups, pushups, crunches, and every other form of physical fitness Big Boss asked of him with the Shadow Clones doing the same. Big Boss told him that the memory of the actions would enter his brain, which would pass down to the memory cells in his muscles, and make them feel like his body did several times what the number his body actually finished doing. As for his diet, Naruto had told how to live off the land, to eat things that would make a normal human puke, and do what it took to survive where there was no "civilized food" found in any village or city. Naruto ate bugs, fish, snakes, and anything else he could hunt in the wild while his Shadow Clones were moving in secret under henge to the library to study different Jutsus along with different kinds of chakra control ideas.

However, even with all the intense training Naruto had done using Shadow Clones while isolating himself from everyone in the village, it wasn't enough, and Big Boss knew that the boy's activities were being monitored by Shinobi outside the boy's home. Kyuubi had long since sensed them days ago, meaning they were sent to spy on Naruto had the behest of the Hokage, and the old man was beginning to remind Big Boss of Major Zero even more.

The fact Naruto had to have his Shadow Clones _henge_ into some random Shinobi just to get in was appalling and it was time the boy learned the painful truth behind the lies of the old man. To do this, Big Boss knew he would need Naruto go in there _without _the use of a henge, and cause a stir within the library. However, there was always a risk that the action would bring about Naruto being taken away at the end by the Hokage in secret, and then investigating the boy's recent actions by having one of those mind invaders enter his head.

If the Sandaime learned of them, he would no doubt find away to seal the three of them up, wipe Naruto's memories, and do God knows what to the poor boy just to make sure things went his way.

"I wonder...Kyuubi, if it were possibly, could a Shadow Clone take more then one hit, and last long in a fight?" said Big Boss seeing the Kyuubi sitting its face down near the bars while enjoying the company of the three soldiers.

If anything, the Kyuubi felt honored to be in their presence, as they were Masters of war, and all its violent glory yet they did not arrogantly embrace the glory in their actions of their time. Besides, the trio were helping Naruto get strong, and the one thing the fox wanted was a strong vessel given how the Leaf had tried to bring about its suffering through the boy.

Even demons didn't do that.

_**"It **__**is**__** possible. Though you can only take a few hits before the Shadow Clone is no more. If the Shadow Clone is stabbed, it will be an instant kill, and no amount of chakra can stop the Jutsu from dispersing,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing the man nod and then walk away to plan things out.

(The Next Day)

'You want me to do _what_?' thought Naruto, as he didn't quite understand the order, and Big Boss knew the boy wouldn't.

"Its simple. Make a Shadow Clone with my spirit inside of it. Don't worry kid, if by some chance the Shadow Clone is disperse by combative means, then my spirit will transfer back to your body, and that will be the end of it," said Big Boss seeing Naruto nod his head before performing the Jutsu while picturing the legendary soldier inside the clone's body.

"Did it work?" said Naruto seeing the Shadow Clone move its finger for a second and then perform a henge into Big Boss in his military trench coast, wearing a suit, and tie with steel toed combat boots.

"Sure did kid. Feels a bit weird, but nothing I can't handle, and I warn you the truth about what we're about to do won't be pretty," said Big Boss seeing Naruto shrug.

"When has my life ever been pretty?" said Naruto seeing Big Boss smirk before they walked into the village made their way to the Shinobi library.

"Go in first. I'll come in behind you after things start to heat up," said Big Boss, as this trap would need proper bait, and what better bait then _live_ bait to spring this trap.

"Hey! You can't come in here _beast_!" said a pink haired woman, who just happened to be Sakura's Mother, and local bookworm Haruno Sally.

"Says who?" said Naruto knowing what needed to be done.

"Says me! I run this library and we have a strict 'No Demons _Allowed_!" policy. Now get out of here before I call in some Shinobi to _make you_ leave and we both know they won't be subtle when they do," said Sally, as she gave the boy a death glare, and didn't have any problem raising her voice for others to hear.

The more people witnessing the brat's ass getting kicked out of the building the better was the pink haired woman's state of mind.

"Is there a problem? I heard yelling" said Big Boss calmly walking into the building with his hands folded behind his back and standing beside Naruto.

"No. No problem sir. Just some delinquent trying to make a mess of things here. Please, be rest assured, he will be thrown out, and _punished _accordingly," said Sally, as she saw Naruto glaring at her, and made a mental note to tell her superiors of the demon's sudden need to be defiant.

"I think there is a problem considering the raised voice yelling in here. From what I heard outside, it was _you_ causing problems, and making a huge scene," said Big Boss seeing the woman gasp in shock, outrage, and then anger at accusing her of that.

"This _boy _is not allowed in here. It is our policy to keep him out and I intend to uphold it," said Sally seeing Big Boss raise an eyebrow at her.

"Really? This is the Shinobi library, correct? And judging from this boy's headband, he is in fact a Shinobi, and thus should be allowed to be in this building to look through things pertaining to his profession," said Big Boss seeing Sally's head looking redder and redder by the second in anger.

"You don't know the circumstance behind this monster, which if you knew would make you want to stop defending him, and remove his person from the building yourself," said Sally seeing Big Boss was intrigued.

"Really? Care to share with me the circumstances?" said Big Boss while smirking at the now hesitating woman since she clearly expect him to leave it alone.

"I can't. Not with that _thing_ there and even if I didn't there is a law in place to prevent me from telling you. Trust me, that _thing_ is a demon, and is not welcome here by the order given to me to keep him out," said Sally hoping her answer would suffice.

"On whose authority? Not yours from what you just said. Someone higher up perhaps?" said Big Boss before sensing Neko's ANBU team behind him and Naruto.

"Is something wrong Haruno-san?" said Neko seeing Big Boss turn slightly to look her with his one good eye.

"Thank Kami you are here. This _thing_ is trying to gain access to the Shinobi library and this baka is trying to help him," said Sally hoping these ANBU would detain the man and hurt the demon for her.

"She stated the boy was not allowed in here and that it was a policy put in place by a high ranking official. I merely asked who made such a policy?" said Big Boss seeing Neko's ANBU tense and knew they were nervous about skating around the Sandaime's little "not so enforced when in private" law.

"If there _is_ a policy put in place, then it must be honored, and the boy cannot be here for whatever reason," said Neko knowing she would have to speak to the Hokage about this.

"But how am I suppose to train in order to defeat Hyuuga Neji at the Exam Finals? Its like sending a single Shinobi against a Kage along with his entire army while using only one kunai!" said Naruto speaking up now in his defense like they planned.

"Shut up! You're not going to win demon and I hope you _die_ when the Hyuuga uses his Gentle Fist to stop your heart," said Sally before Big Boss moved swiftly and smashed her face into the desk she was standing over.

"Please do shut up. Your voice is very annoying," said Big Boss, as he let go of the head smashed into the desk, and face filled with wooden splinters with blood leaking onto the table.

'Was that part of the plan? Either way...I like it!' thought Naruto, as he was impressed by the man's skilled ability to do something so devastating, and yet seemingly so simple.

"You'll have to come with us sir," said Neko having never seen someone move with such executed precision since the Yondaime years ago.

"Not until you tell me why there is a policy meant to keep one of its Shinobi out of here and from learning," said Big Boss seeing the ANBU tense, but before a fight could break out, the Sandaime Hokage appeared, and looked at the legendary soldier gauging eyes.

"You're causing quite a disturbance here my friend," said the Sandaime eyeing the man and then looking at Naruto while seeing the boy seemed to have matured more without him knowing.

"Just helping out the kid here. Seems this bitch behind us didn't want the boy through in order to learn things for the upcoming Chuunin Exam Finals. Claimed there was a _policy_ regarding his entrance here and that he was to be _denied_ access no matter what. What do you make of that?" said Big Boss eyeing the Sandaime carefully and saw a flash of some form of emotion in his eyes for a brief second.

Unfortunately, such emotions moved too fast for him to determine, and saw the Hokage try to play the role of the loving Grandfather.

"I don't know of any such policy and there shouldn't be one. Rest assured, I will get to the bottom of this, and find out who made such a thing happen," said the Sandaime though it was clear from Big Boss's years of military training that the old Kage was lying.

"Then you won't mind that Naruto can look through the scrolls here and learn what's in them," said Big Boss seeing the Sandaime frown slightly and clearly looking for some kind of excuse to stall such a thing.

"Well, I was hoping that could wait until later when I've spoken to you, and Naruto about this incident," said the Sandaime knowing such an excuse was as good as any.

"_Or_ you could just ignore it, myself, _and_ let the boy continue on with his training for the Chuunin Exam Finals," said Big Boss seeing the Sandaime's facial muscles fighting to form a frown.

"I suppose that is one way at looking at it, _but _I would like to speak with you at a later time Naruto, and about why you have been avoiding me lately since the Preliminaries?" said the Sandaime seeing the boy's eyes narrow slightly, but nod all the same, and the Hokage knew he had to tread carefully with the blonde now.

"Sure old man. Just give me a day or two in order to adjust my training schedule," said Naruto putting on his goofy grin façade knowing the Hokage would believe it.

Seeing the Hokage nod, Big Boss saw the ANBU take Haruno Sally away to the hospital to have her face healed, and with the Sandaime soon leaving too. Smirking, Naruto made a whole army of Shadow Clones, and then had them head straight for the sections of the library where they could learn everything they needed while huddling in a corner of the building to learn without interruption.

"You saw what I saw I take it? The Sandaime Hokage of yours is not the kind old man he makes himself out to appear," said Big Boss walking with Naruto having discreetly left the building for a more secluded place to talk in private about different things while he was still outside of the boy's body.

"I saw it, but its still hard to believe, and yet deep down...I know its true," said Naruto, as he had seen the signs of the Sandaime not being the great man the blonde once looked up to, and then the explanation Big Boss gave about the crude brainwashing done to instill loyalty into the young Uzumaki.

Big Boss explained to Naruto that if the Sandaime Hokage was indeed in a position of absolute power, then why not keep the boy's status of being a demon vessel to the Kyuubi a secret, and provide a better protection detail for him in the early years? Why have the boy live in such a crappy neighborhood? How many times did Naruto get beaten close to death, only to have a team of ANBU loyal to the Hokage actually intervening at the last possible moment, and barely within mere seconds before the death was nearly assured by those who hated him?

The painful and truthful answer? The Sandaime wanted to manipulate the boy into being loyal to him and the village in one fell swoop. So long as the Sandaime lived, the loyalty of the Kyuubi vessel was assured, and engrain a sense of loyalty to the village no matter how bad the abuse. Now Naruto was seeing the truth for the first time, feeling the chains forged by the lies of the Sandaime that he himself had put on the blonde slowly breaking piece by piece, and with Big Boss's help would be removed forever.

"You can't stay here in the village kid. We need you out of here by at least tomorrow with a good head start and someplace where we can get you a HF sword," said Big Boss, as he saw Naruto nod solemnly, and his mind was currently going over the best places to go for such a weapon while getting back in time for Chuunin Exams.

_**"What about the Land of Iron?" **_said Kyuubi having been allowed access to the needed information Naruto had in his head.

"The Land of Iron?" said Naruto before focusing on that particular place in his head.

_**"Its not run by Shinobi, but rather samurai, and they could make the sword based on the designs you specifically ask for,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing Frank nod his head at the idea since samurai blacksmiths were bound to their honor when making special custom made weapons and not revealing them to anyone.

"He'd have to leave tonight. Have a Shadow Clone here with another one being Big Boss so he can speak with the Hokage tomorrow and reveal how much of a liar the man is while stalling for time until you can get out of the country," said Frank seeing the others nod knowing this would be opportunity they needed to for Naruto to see the truth in its purest form behind the mask of lies.

"I know some of the best ways out of the village. Kind of had to when being hunted by villagers and Shinobi into the forest so I wouldn't get beaten up," said Naruto knowing anyone seeing him would see a conversation happening between Big Boss and himself.

"Then we will use them. Pack light. Only what you need. Also, wear the clothing you to were secretly able to get to replace your old orange jumpsuit, and throw any pursuers off your trail," said Big Boss before he went "poof" having run out of chakra to sustain his body.

"Okay old man. Time to show you why the _fox _is always one step ahead of the hounds," said Naruto using the quote used many years ago Big Boss told him.

(Hokage's Office-The Next Day)

The Sandaime sighed, as he rubbed his forehead for what felt like the umpteenth time this morning into the afternoon, and waited for the boy to come here in order to explain some things to him. Of course, the Sandaime _knew_ Kakashi was going to favor Sasuke, which he in fact wanted not just to appease the masses, and the Councils. He did it because it was the best course of action since Sasuke's purpose at the moment far exceeded Naruto's right now, and Jiraiya was back in town ready to train the boy if only in the small things.

First, Naruto would have to lose to Neji, further humble, and humiliate the blonde boy's will to get stronger into submission to make him believe only those in the Leaf could help with the dream of becoming Hokage. In doing so, Jiraiya could then have the boy slowly learn like a rabbit trying to nibble on the carrot dangling in front of his nose, and all the while pulling it away after a bite to make the boy want more at the price of obedience. In the even Naruto got strong too fast, the Sandaime had told Jiraiya to divert from Naruto's training to focus on his research, or even updating his spy network.

"Hey old man!" said Naruto kicking the door open, greeting the Hokage with his usual cheesy idiotic grin, and sitting down in the chair across from the old man.

And Big Boss sitting right beside Naruto seconds later having brought up the rear behind the blonde while giving nothing away with his clearly veteran of war like face.

"Hello Naruto. And you too a uh...," said the Sandaime after he realized the name of the man across from him was never given earlier.

"Jack. Just call me Jack," said Big Boss wishing he could smoke at the moment, but kept his urge in check since this wasn't his body, and there were no cigars around.

He'd just have to wait until his spirit was back in Naruto's body to manifest one.

"Okay. _Jack_, I was wondering how you became interested in Naruto's life, and what had happened yesterday in your own recount of things," said the Sandaime while hearing the two tell him everything that happened, nodding his head every moment, which counted like he did care, and look surprised when Naruto mentioned it wasn't the first time he'd been kicked out.

"Is that all old man? I have to get back to training," said Naruto getting out of his chair to leave with Big Boss standing up too.

"That's another thing I need to talk to you about Naruto. I want you to consider dropping out of the finals against Neji. The thought of losing you to him would be unbearable and with Kakashi off with Sasuke...," said Sandaime before he could stop himself and saw the blonde's blue eyes narrow at him.

"So you know what he did? You know he doesn't have any faith in me beating Neji? Do you also know the name of the so called _sensei_ the man asked to fill in for him? Do you?" said Naruto with all sense of joy gone and the air becoming noticeably thick in the room.

"Konohamaru's instructor Ebisu," said the Sandaime calmly though the hairs on the back of his head were starting to rise in a panic.

"That jerk? He hated me from day freaking one when we first met! Why should I even try to learn _anything_ from him when I can get stronger by doing things _on my own_? Why do you even allow this to happen? Why not order Kakashi to train me along with Sasuke? You're the Hokage!" said Naruto seeing the Sandaime trying to figure out what to say about this and Big Boss was also waiting for a proper response.

They got none.

"He doesn't have to answer you Naruto," said Big Boss finally with both kid and elderly man looking in his direction.

"He doesn't?" said Naruto trying to look puzzled, but only looking it to make the Third Hokage sweat a little, and let Big Boss lead things up to the inevitable conclusion that awaited this drama within this room.

"No. The Sandaime won't change things because he doesn't _want to_ change things and is hoping you fail the Chuunin Exams. Most likely your first match," said Big Boss seeing the Sandaime's eyes widen.

"That's a lie!" said the Sandaime practically shouted while rising up from his seat.

"Prove it. Order the boy's sensei to come into this office _right now_ and order him to train Naruto for the Chuunin Exam Finals," said Big Boss seeing the Sandaime pause while looking back at him and then at Naruto with the blonde's eyes narrowing dangerously.

"This situation doesn't concern you Jack. Leave my office now! I have to talk to Naruto about some private and personal things," said the Sandaime seeing Jack narrow his one eye at the old Hokage.

"Planning to manipulate the boy further? Like you did in not telling him why people are always abusing him on account of the Kyuubi? Like when you lied about not knowing who his parents are?" said Big Boss now getting the Sandaime's full attention.

"Who are you?" said the Sandaime, as he began to sweat heavily now, and saw Naruto glare become more intense.

"Someone who knows the truth about the boy's horrible life. Someone who broke Naruto free of your lies and manipulations. He knows _everything_. Naruto will no longer serve you," said Big Boss seeing the Hokage's face now having a panicked look to it before the old man threw the hidden kunai in his sleeve at the legendary soldier, which hit its mark in piercing the man's skull, and then going "poof" to reveal Jack was just a Shadow Clone in henge form.

'A Shadow Clone? But...that wasn't Naruto at all behind it despite the henge. It was like another spirit had been in it,' thought the Sandaime before looking at Naruto's serious face that reminded the old man much of the Yondaime.

"He was right. I will no longer serve you or the village. You've betrayed me for the last time old man. Don't worry, I'll return to fight Neji at the Chuunin Exam Finals, and win the whole damn thing. _However_, after that event is over, you can expect my headband on your desk, and my resignation from the Leaf. I'm going to be a mercenary. I'm going to the highest bidder for my services," said Naruto smirking seeing the Sandaime put on his "pleading Grandfatherly face" now.

"Don't Naruto. Please reconsider. I know I should have done better, but...," said the Third Hokage was silenced by the boy's killer intent.

"Shut your mouth! I've had it up to _here_ with you and your _lies_! I'm gone old man and there is nothing you can do to stop me," said Naruto before walking to the door, but was struck in the back by a kunai to the shoulder by the Sandaime, and staggered forward before turning around glaring at the Hokage with a "that was a big fucking mistake" kind of look.

And then Naruto went "poof!" much to the Sandaime's surprise.

"A Shadow Clone? Damn it!" said the Sandaime, as he had to act fast to recover from this situation, and cursed Kami for letting things spiral out of control.

He quickly called for ANBU and told them to get Jiraiya of the Sannin in the hot spring into his office immediately!

(With Naruto-At the Moment)

"Asshole," said Naruto to himself with his eyes narrowing at the memories he got from the Shadow Clone and his anger filled him for the lies the Sandaime shoved down his throat.

"It had to be done Naruto. I want to apologize to you, but I can't do that, as it would taint the impact of the truth hidden behind the lie, and that would only make things worse. All you can do is endure, get stronger, and then get your payback when the time is right. Not a second sooner," said Big Boss once more inside his head with the others.

'Yeah I know. At least we have a whole day of a head start since I've been running since I got out of the Leaf and made it pretty far to the Land of Iron. At this rate, I should be there in the next couple of days, and I can get my sword commissioned,' thought Naruto seeing the trio in his head nod.

_**"Such a sword will take the remaining time you have until the Chuunin Exams to have it completed, much less time to train, and use it properly. While its being made, the plan of giving you a bloodline we discussed should be addressed, and what should be given in terms of such a power,"**_ said Kyuubi, as this had been discussed by the fox, Naruto, and the trio of legendary soldiers quite a few times when Naruto's body slept while he stayed awake within his mind furthering the training with them.

'What is my bloodline limit going to be? We never really finished in choosing which one to have,' thought Naruto knowing that Big Boss wanted to give him a one eye Dojutsu bloodline, which he called the "Tactical Eye", and have it hidden behind an eye patch like the man's own with the exception being the eye patch can be used on either eye to further make enemies become confused or underestimate the blonde when they see it.

The eye itself would read out important tactical information to Naruto, telling him about an enemies' strengths, weakness, elemental affinities, the amount chakra they have, and basically provide information to the blonde to use against the enemy. What's more was even if given this kind of bloodline, it could easily change at any time beyond the original specifications, and could lead to things never thought up before since it was totally new Dojutsu.

Frank wanted to give Naruto an exoskeleton suit based bloodline, which would cover the boy like a second skin, and yet would be metallic to further protect him. It would be not unlike Frank's own suit back in Shadow Moses he wore in order to live, but it could be turned off when no longer required, and also give the boy physical enhancements to his body. The suit ability would increase his agility, speed, strength, and the necessary hand eye coordination to use the HF sword to its utmost potential. Not only that, but Frank wanted Naruto to take up his Codename: Gray Fox, and bring back the title to its former greatness.

Ocelot was the only one unable to really side with either party, as they both had good arguments for using such bloodlines, and the Kyuubi didn't know what to do either.

"The only thing I can think of that will make everyone happy is to give the kid both," said Ocelot seeing everyone look at him like he was a genius.

Which he was of course.

'Can we do that?' thought Naruto looking at the fox behind the cage.

_**"Its possible. But it will not be easy. The give you the Dojutsu will cause your eyes to be temporarily destroyed in order to work my chakra into them and rewrite the design to allow the new pair to absorb the bloodline into them,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing Naruto flinch at that.

'Do I want know about what the other bloodline will do to me when you make it happen?' thought Naruto seeing Kyuubi shake its head no.

_**"No. Though I don't think it will take a prodigal genius to figure out it will cause you a lot of pain **__**and**__** there is also a chance you maybe discovered by Leaf Shinobi if they can sense my chakra altering your body for this bloodline,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing Naruto once again flinch at the notion of being in pain _and _caught by Leaf Shinobi soon after.

No doubt they'd just make him suffer more in his weakened condition before dragging his body back to Konoha where the Sandaime would seal away the power Kyuubi gave him.

'Okay so its going to hurt. Been there. Done that. When we get to the Land of Iron, which will be around tomorrow if I keep my current pace, I find a hotel, pay for a room, look for a samurai sword smith, ask him to make me a special sword, and then get my bloodlines within the remaining time before the Chuunin Exam Finals. Sound like a plan?' thought Naruto seeing all eyes on him now before nodding.

_**"Sounds about right kit. You have enough money?"**_ said Kyuubi seeing Naruto smirk at him.

'Are you kidding? Those bastards in the Leaf's Merchant Quarter would _barely_ sell me anything and the only things I could get were outdated stuff they threw out. If I tried to buy anything, they'd triple the price just for me, and wouldn't let me have any of the good quality stuff. It was actually _cheaper_ to wait until they threw out the old stuff since they constantly overstocked on!' thought Naruto while secretly patting his pocket where his swollen wallet.

Kyuubi grinned at the irony of it all, as he knew the others inside the boy's head did too, and that the Leaf wouldn't know what hit them until it was too late.

(Konoha Stadium-Day of the Chuunin Exam Finals)

The Sandaime found himself unable to keep his scowl hidden while staring down at the arena before him, as he saw all the participating Shinobi with the exception of Sasuke, and Naruto with neither boy in sight. Of course, Kakashi was going to be late with the Uchiha, which was not unexpected given the Jounin's infamous reputation for being late, and no doubt would have Sasuke be late with a flashy entrance. What bothered the Third Hokage was Naruto was nowhere to be found, which was something in itself if the Toad Sannin's notorious spy network was unable to locate an orange jumpsuit wearing blonde, who yelled a lot, and loved to eat bowl after bowl of ramen.

The only reason the Sandaime didn't disqualify Naruto now was due to the kunai in his office yesterday with a note attached saying "The fox is always one step ahead of the hounds that hunt him". It took all of the Hokage's cunning to keep the news of Naruto's seemingly nonexistent presence in the Leaf for nearly a whole Month a secret and keep any rumors about a strange Shinobi of some kind with experience in war taking an unique interest in the blonde after that incident at the Shinobi library.

'He's here. I can feel it in these old bones of mine,' thought the Sandaime before looking over at the Kazekage, who was really Orochimaru in disguise, and decided to start the Chuunin Exams now in order to see how things play out.

"Will Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji come forward. Your match starts now," said Genma, as he saw Neji was there, but not Naruto, and wondered where the kid was?

'He won't show up. It was all talk,' thought Neji while smirking at his apparent victory without even the need to lift a finger and see Hinata's suffering increase knowing her so called "inspiration" was nothing more then a fraud.

His musing on the matter were interrupted though, as a figure walked into the stadium, wearing a dark trench coat, his clothing in the sunlight had a silver metallic sheen to it, and the wind just happened to be blowing just right for his entrance. Everyone's eyes now focused on him now, as he walked into the arena floor across from Neji, stopped several feet away from the Hyuuga, and turned to fully face the older boy.

"You didn't think I would miss this, did you Hyuuga Neji?" said the figure with his one eye covered in an eye patch with the lower half of his face covered in dark face paint giving him a more intimidating appearance.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" said Genma his eyes widening at this kid, who was nearly Neji's height, if not that, or slightly taller turn his head to stare at him.

"Don't call me that name. I am lightning that flashes in the darkness. I am the blade that pierces the shroud of lies. I am the fox among the hounds. Call me..._Gray Fox_!" said Naruto, as he would go by Naruto to those, who were close to him, but his Codename would be Gray Fox for everyone else that didn't until told otherwise.

Though in truth, Naruto had also wanted to be granted the title of Big Boss like Jack had been given, and prove himself in the trials to come in order to make that dream a reality.

In the stands, the people were tensing at the title, believing the seal had broken, and the Kyuubi had finally possessed its host despite all their actions to the contrary in forcing the boy into submission to stop it. They had believed with a submissively weak host, the Kyuubi would think twice about possessing the boy, and submit to their whims no matter what. Now they were seeing the fox had broke free of its leash, made its vessel strong, and wasn't going to submit like they had wanted from the start.

Their only hope now was Hyuuga Neji putting an end to this demonic uprising and put the Kyuubi in its place.

'This is Naruto? He's so...different!' thought the various members of the Rookie Nine and their senseis present for this match.

"I don't care what you call yourself loser. It is your destiny to lose to me. It is your Fate that I be the one to crush you like the weak _thing_ you are. Just like I crushed Hinata-sama in our match in the Chuunin Preliminaries a Month ago," said Neji getting into his Gentle Fist stance while Naruto just smirked.

"I cut through Fate like a blade Hyuuga Neji. Something you are going to learn in a very _painful_ manner," said Naruto throwing off the trench coat and then taking his sword at his hip into his hand before stabbing the ground with it.

Before taking a few steps forward and getting into CQC fighting stance.

"What heresy is this? Why are you mocking the Hyuuga Clan's Gentle Fist?" said Neji with anger clearly in his voice.

"Oh you mean this? _This_ is a form of Taijutsu I learned in the last Month among the many different things I spent doing without the prying eyes of this village watching my every move, and is far older then the Gentle Fist of your oh so prestigious Hyuuga Clan. So its not really mocking at all. You say its my destiny to lose to you? We'll see if that's true after I beat you in the very field your clan is known to have the advantage in," said Naruto grinning and letting out a cruel chuckle while his Tactical Eye behind his right eye began feeding him information about Neji.

"Hyuuga Neji VS Uzu-uh Gray Fox. Ready? FIGHT!" said Genma before Neji charged forward intent on ending his opponent quickly.

'He can't win. Neji's the prodigy of his clan. To even consider fighting Neji in Taijutsu is insane!' thought Tenten having seen Neji defeat Lee in countless matches in Taijutsu.

'Troublesome. Just when you think a guy like Naruto is figured out, he then pulls this on us, and changes everything we know. And what is with the name Gray Fox? And why are the people around here uneasy about it?' thought Shikamaru, as he saw Neji trying to take Naruto down, and was surprisingly _failing _at the job.

That's right! Hyuuga Neji was _failing _to take down Naruto in _Taijutsu_. Naruto, who could not win half the spars against teachers, and even most of the other students. Granted, back then no one would teach Naruto anything, and didn't have family to help him train. But still, for Hyuuga Neji to _fail_ against Naruto in _Taijutsu_ meant the world was _seriously_ off its axis, and it was very troublesome in Shikamaru's genius mind.

Naruto open palmed Neji in the chest, sending the Hyuuga boy flying back, and it was clear by the surprised look on the Byakugan users face that this was not how he expected things to go. In fact, almost everyone watching the fight expected Naruto to lose instantly in the first few minutes of the fight, and thus it would be the end of the boy's attempt to advance his Shinobi career.

"What's wrong Neji? I thought it was my _density_, if not my _Fate_ to lose you in the Finals, and yet here I am standing toe to toe with you. Come on teme. Stop trying to hit me and hit me! That is..._if _you can?" said Naruto using the knowledge in how to taunt his foe, which he learned from Ocelot, and saw Neji getting angrier with each passing second.

The Gentle Fist attacks were getting sloppier, the strikes aimed at Naruto were becoming more easier to block, and counter with each attempt made by the Hyuuga prodigy. Naruto for his part had decided to end this battle, as he waited for Neji to get in close again, and broke the older boy's arm after grabbing it before following up with a flying knee to the gut that sent the Hyuuga branch family member flying back while skidding across the ground.

"You shouldn't be able to defeat me. You are _nothing_! Just a fool. A weakling. A mistake made in an unholy union. I am a Hyuuga Prodigy! I am born of a noble clan of noble line of a rich clan heritage! You are _beneath me_!" said Neji getting up while holding his arm while blood leaked from his nose and down the sides of his mouth.

"You're not the first one to tell me that. Practically everyone in this village hates my guts and has tried to make me submit in some shape or form. Even the Hokage in secret has been trying to keep me under his thumb because of what I am, which you don't know, and the parents of our generation can't say. You want to take me down? Now's your chance. Take it!" said Naruto smiling a cruel smile like Ocelot showed him knowing it would just anger Neji further.

"Die you weak excuse of a Shinobi!" said Neji, as he used his remaining hand to lash out at Naruto, but the blonde caught, and broke that limb too before being backhanded in the face the sound of his jaw being broken.

"If I'm such a weak excuse of a Shinobi, then why am I the victor of this match, and you are on the ground..._defeated_?"! said Naruto walking away from Neji before looking at the proctor to call the match while picking up his HF sword and trench coat.

"Uh...Hyuuga Neji is unable to continue. The winner of this match is Uzu-I mean Gray Fox!" said Genma with the crowd being stunned into absolute silence.

"Damn right I'm the winner. This world doesn't have any room for snakes, but foxes are another matter, and its time the world recognized that fact," said Naruto to himself while Kyuubi, Big Boss, Frank Jaeger, and Ocelot inside his head agreed.

The rise of Gray Fox and future Big Boss of the world had begun.

(A/N: YAY! I wrote a super long chapter for a new fic! Hope you like it. I know it seems iffy at first glance, but the way I envisioned it is not like the others, and I hope you enjoy this first chapter. For those of you, who can't picture what Naruto looks like, just imagine a spiky blonde haired version of Raiden from MSG4 with Naruto rocking the eye patch. For those of you, who can't see Naruto getting so strong, imagine him learning stuff using Shadow Clones, and accept that as the source of it all. Just think about it! A whole Month worth of training using Shadow Clones almost nonstop is like training for years! Until next time...PEACE!)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-Mercenary Work

Naruto walked up to the fighter's box, his steps barely making a sound, as he had been taught by Frank on how to walk in terms of stealth, and looked at the group assembled in the room. Shino was there, his eye telling him about the bugs, and the Aburame's ability to communicate with them. Kankuro with his puppets, which according to the Tactical Eye had blades dipped in poison, and told him to be cautious. His older sister Temari had her strength lying within her iron fan, which upon removal would make defeating her much easier, and while there was a sense of Taijutsu skill...Naruto was certain she was not skilled enough in that field to take him.

To the right of Temari, the ever lazy yet intelligent Nara Shikamaru was watching him with calculating eyes, as his strength lied within his brains, and Shadow Possession based Jutsus. His weakness was moving when he didn't want to be moved, which was mostly all the time, but Naruto knew never to underestimate a Nara, as they were entrusted to come up with brilliant strategies, and honed their minds through countless games of Shogi. Not that far away from Shikamaru, but still possessing his own bit of distance was Sabaku no Gaara, who was eyeing him with a mix of interest, and bloodlust in those sleep depraved eyes.

"Aside from Sasuke-teme, we're missing someone, and while I don't care for the asshole I would like to know where Sound's own mummy man is?" said Naruto seeing none of the people in the room knowing while only Gaara's eyes narrowing slightly.

"Why do you want to know?" said Gaara speaking at last after some long silence.

"Do I need a reason? More importantly...were you the one who killed him?" said Naruto seeing Gaara smile an evil smile and saw the shocked faces on everyone else.

"What makes you say that?" said Gaara though the smile never left his face.

"Because I know how you are when provoked Gaara-san. I was there the day you arrived in he Leaf when you threatened your older brother with the ending of his life after he was talking back to you. If mummy man so much as looked at you wrong, which most likely he _did_, I would bet a years worth of ramen at my favorite restaurant to eat that you killed him on the spot, and since the guy was from a minor village...I'm going to assume no one really missed him," said Naruto seeing Gaara's smile increase further.

"You assumed right...Gray Fox," said Gaara surprising everyone with the exception of the boy's siblings.

"Why do you all look so surprised? After all, the two of us are like _kin_, and have the same kind of curse placed upon us by our own village," said Naruto seeing Gaara's eyes widen and the smile leave him.

"What is your number?" said Gaara seeing the confused looks on everyone's faces.

"_Nine_!" said Naruto looking at Gaara with the Tactical Eye telling him about Shukaku, the ability to use the sand, and while it was good defensively it had the weakness of being slow.

Of course, the fight Gaara had with Lee in the Preliminaries a Month ago showed that, and the concept of using water to make it slower also appeared in terms of strategy. With enough water hitting Gaara's sand much less his very body, the sand would turn to mud, and make him vulnerable to attack.

"I see. Then you must be the strongest of all of us. I will look forward to fighting you and proving my existence," said Gaara seeing Naruto smirk.

"I'll look for you on the battlefield," said Naruto walking over to the balcony to see the people still shocked by what he had done.

"Will Sabaku no Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke please make their way to the arena please," said Genma since it was for the best that this thing continue.

"Time to make some noise," said Naruto seeing Gaara just nod and vanish to the arena floor.

After a few moments, it was clear Sasuke was not going to show up, and only would _if_ it would be at a significantly later time of his choosing. Naturally, the people wouldn't care on account of his clan, and no doubt the Hokage would go along with it since it was clear where the old man's loyalties truly lied if he came down to choosing between him or the Uchiha.

"Uchiha Sasuke's match with Sabaku no Gaara is postponed until later. The next match is Sabaku no Kankuro VS Aburame Shino," said Genma seeing Gaara frowning at the clear disrespect the Uchiha was showing and vowed to make the clearly arrogant boy suffer if they crossed paths.

"Proctor! I forfeit my match!" said Kankuro getting boos from the crowd while calling him a coward.

"Okay. Will Nara Shikamaru and Sabaku no Temari come down for your match. _Unless_ of course, either of you wish to forfeit your match, and we can continue on to next fight?" said Genma seeing Temari come down ready for a fight.

"Unlike my brother, I'm ready for mine, and the only question now is...does my opponent from _your_ village feel the same way?" said Temari seeing Shikamaru sigh lazily.

"Troublesome. I don't want to fight. Especially against a girl. What is it with me getting picked to fight girls? I think I'll just forfe-AAAH!" said Shikamaru before he was literally kicked in the ass over the railing onto the arena floor.

"Same old Shikamaru. Still using all the muscles in your head and not the others in your body when they count," said Naruto grinning at down yet not out Shikamaru.

"Damn you Naruto. If you weren't so troublesome I'd...I'd...ah who am I kidding. Its even more troublesome to do anything against you then not!" said Shikamaru before a now impatient Temari decided to do something about his lack of showing involvement in their match even though the match didn't officially start yet.

"Come on! Fight! Aren't you a man?" said Temari seeing Shikamaru dodging her attacks very well for a usually lazy person.

She had no idea how much practice he got dodging his Mother, who incidentally uses the same kind of manner of swinging metal objects at him like the eldest Sabaku sibling was doing now, and thus gave the Nara a chance to anticipate some of the strikes.

"Dad was so right when he said all women were troublesome. If you don't fight a woman, then you're not a real man, if you _do _fight a woman, then you're a _heartless_ man, and in all likelihood should be put down like a dog. Why are woman so double standard? Ow!" said Shikamaru getting hit by Temari's fan, and sent flying.

Some of her strikes. Not all of them.

"Time to meet your maker!" said Temari leaping into the air to bring ham-uh iron fan down on Shikamaru.

"I met her this morning. She's much scarier then you. I give up!" said Shikamaru, as he dodged her attack at the last moment, and saw the woman was not happy.

Neither would be his Mother much later when he saw her, but that was life, and right now Shikamaru preferred to live for a few more hours.

"Nara Shikamaru gives up. The winner is Sabaku no Temari," said Genma seeing Temari was not please with Shikamaru giving up and clearly wanted to bash his face in.

"Figures. Shikamaru you coward. Oh well, if she didn't beat him up, his Mother sure will, and what's worse is they live in the same house. I don't know who to feel sorry for. The house...or Shikamaru? Hmm...I think their house deserves more sympathy," said Naruto grinning at Shikamaru, who was sighing, sulking, and slowly getting out of the arena.

Such a sloth that one.

"Now its time to Uchiha Sasuke VS Sabaku no Gaara. Will both fighter please enter the arena for your match," said Genma hoping for the Uchiha's sake that he got here in time.

Because _this time_, there was no way to postpone the match, and would no doubt upset the clients for having such a tardy competitor. Uchiha or not.

"If the Uchiha doesn't show up, I want to fight a warrior of my choosing, and I won't take no for an answer," said Gaara, as he wasn't going to be denied a fight a second time, and would make someone fight him if he needed to do things that way.

"We'll see. No promises," said Genma, as he now waited a second time along with just about everyone else for the Uchiha, and hoped the boy would _finally _arrive.

Sadly, he had yet to arrive, and it was making people upset.

"What should we do Hokage-sama? We can't postpone the Uchiha's match any longer," said the Hokage's Jounin aid seeing the Sandaime narrow his eyes across the arena at Naruto, who was currently looking back, and basically daring the old man to favor the Uchiha just one. more. time!

'Do it you old fart. Favor the Uchiha in this just to prove I'm right. Even if you don't, the mere fact you are stalling just proves he's special, and deserves your oh merciful help in this matter,' thought Naruto knowing the Hokage was in a bind now and couldn't avoid it forever.

"Disqualify the Uchiha," said the Sandaime at last knowing any longer would make a bad impression on the Leaf.

'This cannot be happening! I know Sarutobi doesn't know about my plans because he has done everything to keep the Uchiha in the Finals! I need to wait until the Uchiha is here,' thought Orochimaru though he was also interested in Uzumaki Naruto's sudden change that clearly occurred right under the Sandaime's nose.

Could his actions in blocking the seal holding the Kyuubi have done this? Could he have misaligned the Five Prong Seal in some way to bring about this transformation?

"Uchiha Sasuke is disqualified for being late. The winner by default is Sabaku no Gaara!" said Genma having been _finally _given the call and once more got boos from the people.

"How disappointing. I was hoping to see the Uchiha fight a good match. This means that I came all the way here for nothing!" said one potential client while others were speaking the same way.

To them, the only good fighter so far from the Leaf was Gray Fox!

"The next match will start now. Will Gray Fox and Aburame Shino come down to arena for their match," said Genma with Gaara going back to the fighter's box.

"Don't get angry Gaara. All things come to those who wait. We'll have our fight. Count on it. Just think...the Leaf is saving the best fight for last and you'll be considered one of the two best when the time comes," said Naruto seeing Gaara smirk at the news and for once "Mother" wasn't complaining about the wait.

"Personally, I see no real reason to fight you Uzu-Grey Fox. There is no logic in it," said Shino while finding the new name to call Naruto to be difficult in remembering since it was so sudden.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. If you don't want to fight, then forfeit your match, and there will be no shame in it. In all honesty, I'd prefer it if you didn't fight me, and conserve your energy for future battles that lie ahead of us," said Naruto seeing Shino's eyebrow crease behind his glasses at his cryptic message.

"I see. Proctor, I forfeit my match, as my skills are at a disadvantage to my opponents, and I will not win," said Shino seeing the man sigh at so many giving up.

"Okay. Aburame Shino forfeits his match. The winner is Gray Fox," said Genma with the loudest boos so far from the crowd, mainly Konoha citizens, and Shinobi too that didn't like the idea of Naruto winning easily much less through trial by combat.

"I forfeit my match too. There is _no way _I'm fighting Gaara," said Temari, as she was one touch girl, but fighting Gaara was too much, and wasn't about to risk her health.

"Okay. Fair enough. Then we'll just have to cut to the chase. Will Sabaku no Gaara and Gray Fox please come down to the arena for your match," said Genma while mumbling "and please no more forfeiting" before the two competitors were in the arena.

"I told you Gaara. The best match was indeed saved for last," said Naruto drawing his HF sword and saw Gaara grinning back at him.

"You are strong. Stronger then before. I don't know how, but I can feel the change, and it make Mother happy!" said Gaara eager for a fight now before a gust of wind interrupted the two from having it with Kakashi arriving with Sasuke.

"Are we late?" said Kakashi though he already knew the answer.

"Yes. You are. Not only that, but Sasuke is disqualified, and before you complain the Third Hokage held off your match until the very end while stalling to the very last second he was capable of using," said Genma much to the surprise of Kakashi knowing that the Jounin suspected they had plenty of time even after the postponing given the matches that came after the Uchiha's.

"What? Then who is Gaara fighting now?" said Sasuke pointing at Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto, but recently he has changed his name to Gray Fox, and won't just let anyone call him by his real name," said Genma seeing the shock on both the Jounin's and Genin's faces.

"N-Naruto?" said Kakashi in shock at seeing his failure of a student look so..._different_!

"Don't call me by that name Hatake-baka! You are unworthy to speak it after ditching me for this jerk. And for what? You brought him in late and he lost his spot. I bet you're even surprised to see I beat Neji, much less that I'm even _alive_, and no doubt even more when you hear from Gai how I beat his own prodigal student in Taijutsu. That's right Hatake-baka. _I_, Uzumaki Naruto beat Hyuuga Neji in _Taijutsu_ in front of everyone here in this stadium, and it was _no thanks_ to you!" said Naruto sending killer intent at the Jounin, which made the man shiver, and Sasuke stumble back.

"Can our match start now. I'm tired of these interruptions!" said Gaara barely keeping his hunger for blood in check now.

"You took the words right out of my mouth Gaara. Get that tardy piece of crap into the stands where he belongs and let's show these people how monsters like _us_ fight!" said Naruto grinning at Gaara, who grinned back, and the cork on his gourd holding his sand flew off with the sand itself shooting out while now holding a wavy snake motion like an actual snake preparing to strike.

"How dare you! I'm an Uchiha! An elite. Gaara is my opponent. It you who should get lost loser," said Sasuke taking a step forward, but the combined killer intent of the two demon vessels was staggering now with their patience with the Uchiha becoming razor thin, and about ready to turn on the boy had Kakashi not done what Naruto had asked.

More like commanded, but to each his own point of view, and Kakashi was not going to do anything that would risk the Uchiha's health.

"Start talking Gai. What happened?" said Kakashi now where Gai, his team, and the rest of the Rookies that didn't make it were now seated.

"I'm not sure myself my old rival. Is it true? You didn't teach the boy _anything_?" said Gai seeing Kakashi shrug like it wasn't important.

"I taught tree walking while on our mission in Wave," said Kakashi like it was something though painful to even try from the way he made it sound.

"That was Months ago Kakashi! You didn't teach him anything else? Nothing else?" said Kurenai, as she was seeing her female student looking on with worry for Naruto, and felt a sense of worry for the boy too.

Chivalry wasn't dead if what she had seen and heard a Month ago with Naruto swearing on Hinata's blood that he would get Neji back for his cruel actions.

"The boy was a mess. I couldn't train him in _anything_! I could have years to work with the brat and nothing would have come of it," said Kakashi while the others disagreed.

"Uh...are we talking about the same Naruto here? Because the Naruto a Month ago back then and the one _now_ are two completely different people from what I'm seeing," said Ino, as the match had finally started with Gaara shooting sand at Naruto, and the blonde had spun away from it before losing his trench coat to maneuver better when in combat.

At the same time, it gave Naruto the means to cut through the sand with the HF sword, and get closer to Gaara. The Uzumaki warrior leaped over Gaara, dodging sand shuriken, spikes of solidified sand, and cut through the projectiles again with his sword much to the surprise of everyone to see the boy so precise with swordsmanship.

'Who taught him to move like that? To swing a sword like that?' thought Tenten, as she saw the sword Naruto was using was no ordinary sword, and was seemed to be made from outside the Leaf.

"You're definitely strong Gray Fox. Clearly stronger then the Uchiha!" said Gaara finding himself happier then he had been in years, if by killing people around you in a very slow, and agonizing manner a means to find happiness.

"You too. You are the perfect person to test my skills out on. I thank you for that," said Naruto, as he danced around Gaara, spinning, and angling his sword to cut through the sand around him.

"You can thank me by giving me your _blood_!" said Gaara shooting a thicker wave of sand at Naruto, who kept back flipping away from it, and then went through quick hand signs.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" said Naruto knowing that such a Jutsu in an area without water required a lot of chakra to make, but considering how much he had in terms of reserves, the_ lack _of chakra wasn't much of an issue, and was able to launch the Jutsu right at Gaara by having the water travel through the sand until it hit point blank with enough force to send the youngest of the Kazekage's siblings right into the wall.

'Not bad. He's using water to muddy the sand. The muddier the sand, the less strength it has to hurt people, and kill them,' thought Shikamaru seeing what Naruto was doing.

Seeing his chance, Naruto rushed forward, arc his sword arm back, and then threw the weapon straight at Gaara with the blade of the HF sword piercing the Suna boy's shoulder with the muddy sand doing its job of absorbing most of the impacting power behind the throw. However, the blade still pierced through the sand, into Gaara's shoulder, and cut into his flesh.

"You...you cut me. Cut through my sand. My armor. I see...I see blood. My blood. I'M BLEEDING! YOU MADE ME BLEED!" said Gaara feeling, seeing, and smelling the crimson liquid falling down his shoulder.

'Something tells me I just did something that was a first for him,' thought Naruto seeing the boy cry out in agony from his wound and realization that he was actually bleeding for the first time _ever_!

"I'll make you pay for this. I'll make _you _bleed for this action," said Gaara calling all his sand to him both wet and what was still dry.

'Damn it! Gaara's abilities have been weakened because of the brat. My only option now is to begin the invasion and hope Suna's forces can get their weapon to a safe place to let the sand dry out,' thought Orochimaru giving the signal to Kabuto, who having seen the signal had performed the Genjutsu, and soon explosions were heard outside of the village walls.

"And _that_ ladies and gentlemen means we now have a whole new fight on our hands," said Naruto using chakra strings he now shot to his sword and pulled the weapon back into the loving hands of its Master.

While Gaara frothed at the mouth with rage and bloodlust.

"Gaara, we need to get you out of here long enough for the sand to dry. Otherwise you can't achieve your ultimate form," said Kankuro appearing with Temari by Gaara's side.

"I don't care! I want to fight now. I need to _**kill him. He needs to **__**die**__**!"**_ said Gaara, as half his face became a deformed demonic face, and his entire right arm became inhuman while made up of sand with claws for a hand at the end.

"You first!" said Sasuke charging towards Gaara with his hand covered in lightning that was the Chidori and Sharingan active to make use of the attack.

_SLASH!_

_Thunk!_

Only for that same hand covered in lightning to be severed at the elbow, flying into the air, missing its target, or that of Gaara's siblings by ten feet when it hit the wall above them. Sasuke screamed in pain, falling to his knees, and seeing the bloody stump that was his hand before turning to see the one responsible for this outrage!

It was Naruto.

"I can't let you do that Uchiha. I _won't_ let you kill my kin," said Naruto seeing the shock on the siblings faces, as even Gaara didn't understand why the Uzumaki did what he did, and helped regain a fraction of his sanity in knowing someone did something for him.

"You're both Leaf Shinobi. Why did you do that?" said Kankuro not believing what he just saw.

"Who said I was a Leaf Shinobi? A Month ago I was before I learned some interesting truths hidden behind lies by the Sandaime, but from now on I'm a mercenary, who fights for the highest bidder, and when I'm not I fight for what _I_ _personally_ believe in doing. Gaara is like me. We've been hated, shunned, abused, and oppressed by those around us with only so few people caring how we feel. Though they themselves have to be careful should the vast majority of people in the village take their hatred out on them just for doing that," said Naruto before seeing Kakashi by Sasuke's side with the Jounin glaring at him.

"You'll be punished for this Naruto," said Kakashi before rushing Sasuke to the hospital while the fighting was going on around them knowing the arm would have to be retrieved later on.

"Looking forward to it Hatake," said Naruto before refocusing on the Kazekage's siblings still unsure what to do.

"I can _**still fight**_," said Gaara trying to stand on his own despite the shoulder wound and the bruising he took when he hit he wall after the Water Jutsu weakened the sand armor on his body.

"Don't. I have no wish to injury you any further Gaara. Even if you could fight me, the battle is tainted by your current state, and thus would ruin it. Leave the Leaf _now_!" said Naruto enforcing the order with killer intent and saw trio flinching under it.

Even Gaara and his "Mother" knew better then to challenge the vessel of the Kyuubi at this point in the game.

"Very well. Contact Baki. Order all Suna Nin to retreat away from the Leaf and that I was beaten. It will be enough to convince him to order all our forces to retreat," said Gaara to Temari knowing the Jounin would listen to the eldest sibling of the Kazekage since Gaara was essentially the trump card in all of this.

With Gaara taken out, the chances of Suna winning was unlikely, and couldn't risk the loss of so many of their forces. Especially if Naruto being like Gaara was true with a much stronger demon sealed inside of him.

Seeing the siblings take off, Naruto focused on the battle around him between Sound, and the slowly withdrawing forces of Suna engaging the Leaf. At the walls of the village, the massive multi-headed snake summons were tearing their way into the village, and only by the intervention of Jiraiya of the Sannin dropping a massive Toad Summons on them were they defeated. Moving swiftly, Naruto cut through Sound Shinobi, as Suna's forces gave him a wide gap having seen him hurt Gaara, and made his way to the Kage's Booth where the purple barrier was constructed to keep people out while the occupants inside stayed in.

And inside the barrier, Orochimaru was battling the Sandaime Hokage in a fight to the death, and surprisingly the old man was holding his own despite the two brought back from the dead predecessors to the title of Hokage the Sannin summoned to put things in his favor.

'Coward. Can't kill the old man himself so he does others to do his dirty work until the Hokage is weakened enough to do it and then takes all the credit. How pathetic,' thought Naruto with his Tactical Eye studying the barrier, seeing it was controlled by the Sound Four, and they had their own barriers to protect them from being hurt.

One of _them_ goes down, then the whole barrier goes down, and the ANBU waiting for a chance to even the odds could help the Hokage.

"What are _you _doing here?" said an ANBU wearing a boar mask seeing Naruto walking towards them on the longer section of the barrier.

"That's not your business," said Naruto while his eye was figuring out how to weaken the barrier enough for him to break through and enter the fray.

"The Hell it is! Why don't you make yourself useful for once demon and use your powers to repel the enemy like the obedient pet you were raised to be?" said the ANBU glaring at Naruto behind his mask.

"Such arrogance. You really are a pathetic bunch. Just stand there and watch while I save your precious Hokage from his inevitable demise," said Naruto, as he gathered demonic chakra into his entire left arm, and thrust it into the barrier seeing it flux under the stain of his power.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing asshole?" said the red haired girl closets to him while trying to keep the barrier up along with the others.

"What I want to do," said Naruto, as he was not about to have Orochimaru cheat him our of getting the justice he deserved, and knew the Sandaime had much to answer for.

Dying now would be an easy way out.

Increasing the output of Kyuubi's power within his left arm, Naruto saw cracks forming in the barrier, earning him a look of surprise from Orochimaru, and even the Sandaime before the old man took a punch to the face by the brought back from the dead Shodaime Hokage. With a sudden pulling back of his arm, Naruto destroyed the chakra barrier with feedback energy hitting all of the Sound Four bodyguards, and knocking all four of them into unconsciousness.

"No!" said Orochimaru, as he brought out Kusanagi to deal with the ANBU trying to give the Sandaime time to the recover from the two on one battle between past and present Hokages of the Leaf.

All the while, Naruto watched the Sandaime kneeling, catching his breath, and seeing the Leaf Shinobi sworn to defend him struggle in their effort to extend his life in this battle. The Sandaime turned his head to look at Naruto, seeing the boy just stare at him, judging the Hokage with the one accusing blue eye, and knew that the blonde didn't help him out of the goodness of his heart.

Before either party could say anything, much less move at first, the Nidaime Hokage had moved to flank Naruto from advancing towards the Sandaime, and Naruto had to fight the man off using his acrobatics. He used his HF sword to cut an arm off at the shoulder, but the limb regenerated, and the dead man didn't even seem to notice. The Tactical Eye revealed the source of the Nidaime's ability to "live" in this world was located in his head where a seal tag was placed to sustain him and heal injuries to his body.

The weakness however, was the source of the Nidaime's current strength, as he just had to cut the head off of the body, and destroying it to put an end to the man's continuing existence was the key to winning this fight. Angling his HF sword now pointing directly at the Second Hokage, the blonde swordsman waited for the Nidaime to make the first move, which the man did, and moved out of the way before bringing down his weapon down upon the man's head.

Slicing the back of Nidaime's head in half and destroying the seal tag within in it.

Before he "died" however, the Nidaime managed to turn his head to face him, and _smiled_ at Naruto for freeing him from being Orochimaru's slave.

As for the Shodaime, he had knocked, or killed what ANBU didn't go after Orochimaru before turning his attention to the Sandaime having regained _some _of his strength. The very First Hokage of the Leaf charged at the Sandaime, who used his staff to counter the man's movements, and missed seeing Naruto leaped towards Orochimaru knowing with the Sannin gone then the Shodaime would no longer be controlled.

Meaning the man could once again rest in peace on the other sides again.

"You interest me Uzumaki Naruto. One Month ago, you were weak, and pathetic. _Now_, you are strong, ruthless, and show promise in being _my new vessel_!" said Orochimaru, who would be salivating at the mouth had it not been for the anger at this boy ruining his plan to kill the Sandaime, and yet...the Sannin sensed the boy wasn't doing it simply for the Hokage's sake.

It was something else.

"I'll pass. The last thing I want is to be one of your playthings. However, I will see to it that you are given something to remember me by, and that you will _always_ remember the name _Gray Fox_!" said Naruto, as he made ten Shadow Clones, all armed with HF swords, and the Sannin cursed in his assumption the Kyuubi's chakra was still sealed off.

"You won't defeat me. _I _am a God. I am immortal. I am invincible!" said Orochimaru, as he engaged the Shadow Clones, and Naruto in combat.

"No. What you _are_ Orochimaru...is a coward. A coward, who fears death, and tries to cheat it by making it wait. But there is one thing you haven't counted on Orochimaru," said Naruto, as his Shadow Clones moved too fast, and was too agile for Orochimaru to counter them all.

Some of the HF swords from the Shadow Clones were able to hit the Sannin's shoulder, leg, and cut into his back. Orochimaru tried to ignore the pain, as he lashed out at the Shadow Clones, hoping to hit the real Naruto among the fakes, and while a few of the Shadow Clones fell...there were still too many to aim properly.

"And _what_ exactly is it that I have not counted on boy?" said Orochimaru, as he lashed out with his sword in a last ditch effort, but lost it to the real Naruto's HF sword, and then quick spin was stabbed in the gut while the Shadow Clones stabbed him all over.

"_Death_ waits for no man," said Naruto seeing Orochimaru wanting to do something, but the injuries, and clearly draining battle before the blonde's interference had stopped any action the Sannin wanted to occur from happening.

"I...won't let you...kill me," said Orochimaru before extending his neck suddenly and bit Naruto on the neck to fill the boy with snake venom.

Only for the boy in front of him to go "poof!" and revealing the Naruto he bit was in fact a Shadow Clone.

"Nice try, but I learned long ago never to let down my guard in front of a weakened foe, and that's not going change," said Naruto behind Orochimaru before quickly cutting off the Sannin's head with one clean swing.

Orochimaru was dead.

At the present time of this happening, the Shodaime Hokage stopped right before is open palm could strike the Sandaime in the skull with enough force to scatter his brains, and kill him. The Sandaime for his part looked at the Shodaime in his paused state, seeing the man's body now decaying before his eyes, and then saw the same man turn to face Naruto standing over a headless Orochimaru while the Shadow Clones dispersed.

"That boy is going to go far in this world Sarutobi. I saw the way he looked at you after the barrier went down. He's a demon vessel like my wife was, isn't he? Only the boy is not loved and no doubt thanks to your actions my friend. How far you have fallen from the boy my brother helped me train. I never thought I would say this, but...I have become disappointed in you Sarutobi, and ashamed that the cycle of hate continues on through your actions," said the Shodaime before his body turned to ash to reveal the young dead body behind the sacrifice along with the other one also equally dead that had been the Nidaime's body.

The Sandaime was speechless, as he heard the Shodaime's last words to him, and could not believe the First Hokage of Konoha had actually _said_ that! Was it so wrong to keep the Child of Prophesy contained within the village in order to protect the Leaf from any possible destruction when such a prophecy was fulfilled? No! The Sandaime had nothing to be ashamed of regardless of what the Shodaime said, as he thought of the village first, and that meant someone had to suffer in order for the Leaf to stay safe.

The Shodaime was wrong about him. He had to be!

Slowly, the Sandaime got off the ground, and walked towards Naruto currently using a Fire Jutsu on Orochimaru's body while feeling an ache in his old heart. It wasn't that much of a surprise to the Sandaime in feeling such things about his old student, who turned traitor, but the simple fact it was _Naruto_ of all people responsible for it, and not himself made the Hokage feel..._off_. Years ago, when given the chance to kill the Sannin, the Sandaime could not, as he didn't have it in his heart to do so, and even moments ago when facing the snake did the old monkey not feel it in his heart to kill his old student.

"Thank you Naruto. You've done the village a great service," said the Sandaime seeing Naruto put away his sword and surprisingly glare at him.

"Save me your so your called _thanks_. I'm not one your Shinobi anymore. I handed my headband in and put it on your desk this morning. I'm strictly a freelance mercenary now and I expect to be paid well for the bounty for the Sannin's head," said Naruto seeing the Sandaime look at him in shock at this news.

"I won't accept it Naruto. I _have to_ accept your resignation before its official and I'm not going to anytime soon," said the Sandaime seeing Naruto's eye narrow at him.

"But you _will_ accept it. Or else I go straight to the Fire Daimyo with evidence of your actions against me and the betrayal my parents felt by this village," said Naruto seeing the Sandaime's eyes widen in realization that the boy got a look if not a complete hold of the rumored "black book" every Kage in every village had about every dirty little secret ever done for record purposes.

"How did you get it?" said the Sandaime seeing Naruto smirk and knew the boy had the Leaf by the balls.

And had no problem squeezing until they popped!

"The fox is always one step ahead of the hounds old man. And a fox would _never_ tell a hound knowing such knowledge would be used against him again. Now you accept my resignation, you accept my change from Shinobi to mercenary, you give me everything that is my inheritance, restitution for crimes committed against my family, and keep any protest about this from the Councils shut. They so much as try to send killer intent at me, not that they could intimidate me from the start, and the book along with copies from various pages within it get sent _everywhere_. Every Shinobi village, every city, every country, and every person with the ability to read will know _exactly_ what this village has done to make itself the so called 'strongest of the Shinobi village' before they all declare war on you. Deal?" said Naruto seeing the Third Hokage sigh, biting back the remark he wanted to say about the boy, but knowing just how damaging the book was in Naruto's hands was more then enough to make him nearly choke on his tongue, and finally cave into the demands.

"All right. I'll have everything for you to sign to make it official and you'll get what you want," said the Sandaime bowing his head submissively while cursing this boy for having the upper hand.

"Excellent! Also, I'm going to read over everything before I sign, and any missions I get asked for...the Leaf gets _zero_ in terms of the money for the missions. Got it? The Leaf gets _nothing_ in terms of payment unless the clients ask _specifically_ for the village's help too and if they do ask? You only get a small cut of the pay. 80/20 with the Leaf getting the lower end. Oh! Before I forget, from now on, you will call me Gray Fox, and nothing else unless _I _say so," said Naruto seeing the Sandaime once more nodding reluctantly at this while cursing the boy's brilliance since it was clear every client seeing him would want the blonde _exclusively_ for missions.

'Damn you boy. Damn you and your family,' thought Sandaime to himself while looking away knowing if such words were ever spoken with Naruto holding the upper hand.

"Sensei! Are you all right? Where's Naruto?" said Jiraiya, which caused the Sandaime to look back, and see the boy was no longer next to him.

Probably for the best given how the boy was no doubt tempted to take his head off too.

"He's gone. The plan has failed Jiraiya. Naruto no longer wishes to be in the service of the Leaf and wants his family's inheritance we denied him," said the Sandaime seeing Jiraiya go pale in wondering how the boy knew and what else the kid discovered.

"H-How does he know?" said Jiraiya, as he had helped the Sandaime years ago in this, and while he had felt _somewhat_ guilty at the time...it had been for the greater good?

Right?

"I don't know. What I do know is he has the black book. If I don't meet his demands, then he will see to it that every single dirty act the Leaf has committed out of the public eye is known to everyone, and the village is destroyed," said the Sandaime seeing Jiraiya's face go even paler and could rival Orochimaru's face in terms of that shade of white.

"Crap. If he knows about his parents, much less the black book, then he also knows I was supposed to be his Godfather, and Tsunade his Godmother. Only we kind of told her that he died during the sealing and basically took away Tsunade's only reason to stay in the Leaf knowing that she'd crush the skulls of anyone attacking the boy," said Jiraiya, as he had felt guilty doing that to Tsunade, but again it was professional duty over personal feelings, and had to fight the idea of just not following orders.

"How goes the battle?" said the Sandaime finally seeing Jiraiya shrug like it wasn't even important.

"Sound was crushed soon after Suna retreated. I don't know what the gaki did, but it was through him they pulled out, and sent running like the Shinigami was on the warpath," said Jiraiya, as he saw one Suna Shinobi confirming the retreat order, and then running after hearing "the Kyuubi weapon is being used" in his radio earpiece.

Why had the Sandaime get into a measuring stick contest with Suna in terms of power, Jiraiya didn't know, but the Third had used Kyuubi being sealed into Naruto on multiple occasions in the form of a bluff to keep Suna in line in keeping an alliance with the Leaf during the incident with Kumo, and the threat of using the boy to wipe them out using Kyuubi's power before redirecting it entirely at Kumo. Suna wasn't sure if the Sandaime was being truthful or not given their knowledge of seals was nowhere near Jiraiya's or the late Yondaime level. The Sandaime had lied, saying the boy chosen was from an extinct clan from Whirlpool capable of unleashing a large Kyuubi's chakra, and surviving the strain of the usage.

It had been a bluff Suna wasn't going to risk investigating until Gaara was strong enough to at least hold his own for awhile against such a powerful foe..._if_ such a foe had existed.

"Wait until things stabilize between our two villages and then have an emissary go to Suna for talks," said the Sandaime, as he knew things were going to be hectic once word spread about this, and people wanting answers.

(With Naruto-Days Later)

Naruto walked amongst the war torn streets of Konoha, not caring that the once well kept zone now looked crappy like his apartment complex did, and ignored the Shinobi around him. Some were _starting _to show respect, but only because they thought he worked for them, and what they had done was right. No doubt, word would spread of how all their hard work paid off, and they were going to be patting themselves on the back for a good job well done. Glaring at them with a "shove those praises up your ass" look, the blonde walked on, having sensed their surprise at his reaction, and no doubt making them rethink their thoughts on him being under the Hokage's thumb.

With the invasion being over, worker set about rebuilding the damaged places hit by the allied forces, which wasn't entirely bad due to Jiraiya's Toad Summoning did the trick on the snakes, and Sabaku no Gaara had not unleashed Shukaku in the stadium. Currently, in regards to Suna, talks were being worked out with them, and finding a solution to the all the financial troubles the Wind Daimyo had put Suna in from the start that forced such a desperate move from them thus causing Orochimaru to prey on the village like the snake he was.

That was another thing to consider, as word spread of Orochimaru's demise like wildfire, and many were shocked to know Naruto had done it with the name Gray Fox becoming whispered throughout the Elemental Countries. Naruto smiled at that, as he was getting recognition quickly for the act, and beating Suna's "untouchable" Sabaku no Gaara in a way where all others had failed. The blonde himself had even sent a personal letter to Gaara stating that he held no ill wishes toward him and that fellow kin like themselves should not raise arms against each other.

Something Big Boss was proud of him for doing, as he along with Ocelot, and Frank had been watching him during the Finals while keeping quiet. If they did anything during the fighting either against Neji, Gaara, or during the invasion then it would just tell Naruto that they didn't think he was ready for what needed to be done. When it was over, Big Boss, Ocelot, and Frank showed how proud they were by appearing within his mind in their military uniform before giving him a military salute. A military salute of respect they would give only to their equals or their superiors they were proud to call soldiers.

"Naruto-baka!" said Sakura, as she stomped towards him, seething in rage at the sight of her teammate, and clearly looking to hit the blonde with one of her usual fan girl punches to knock the boy down a peg.

"What do you want?" said Naruto being cut out of his thoughts while ignoring the fact she called him by his real name and not the Codename he kept telling people to call him by from now on.

"I just went to the hospital to see Sasuke-kun. Kakashi-sensei told me his arm was _cut off_ by _your sword_!" said Sakura seeing Naruto turn to face her.

"Your point?" said Naruto, as he was not going to deny it, and saw her face turning an angry shade of red.

"My point? My point? My point _is_ you owe him your arm _and _that sword that you carry around. You're coming with me to the hospital and you are _giving_ both of them to him right now," said Sakura reaching out to grab his arm, but instead found that extended arm twisted by Naruto behind her back, and her face now kissing dirt.

"I don't do what you tell me to do Sakura. I'm not your punching bag, your pet, or any other thing that makes you think I will be bossed around by the likes of you anymore! Honestly, I don't even know how you even made it through the graduation exam, much less this far with team 7 outside of me doing all the leg work while Sasuke gets all of the praise, and _you_ playing the tragic heroin thanks to the script the Councils wrote for you. Pure self indulgence, absorbed in your own misfortune of being in love with someone on your team, who won't love you back because of his black heart, and needing to avenge his family's honor. You just couldn't get enough of the drama _and _you hate it now that the script of team 7 is being changed. Changed by the 'clown' of the group, who is suppose to die at some point, but surprisingly is still alive while no longer playing the role written for him by the group, and is showing what he can do when its time to be serious. Get out of my sight. Come near me again with the intent to hurt or kill me Haruno Sakura and I will take your life," said Naruto before breaking her arm kept the girl's head pinned to the ground with his foot to muffle the scream.

Naruto could only feel sorry for the earthworms hearing it.

Walking a few more blocks, Naruto stopped when a Leaf ANBU appeared in front him, and he could tell it was that ANBU Captain Neko that the Sandaime had ordered to spy on him a Month ago. It was interesting to say the least, as he sensed no hostility from her, yet she obeyed the Sandaime's orders at one point in his life according to the black book of dirty Leaf secret to wait in rescuing him from a mob on his ninth birthday. The book did not specify if she felt guilty, but Naruto was sure there was _some _form of guilt, and if there wasn't...well she could fuck off along with the rest of her squad.

"Gray Fox, I must inform you that the Councils, Clan Heads, and the Sandaime Hokage wish to speak with you now," said Neko seeing Naruto's eyebrow rise at this news.

"They _wish_ to speak to me? Those were their _exact _words? Not _demand_? Not _command_? Not their usual _'get in here and bow down before us demon!_?'" said Naruto seeing Neko nod quickly while sensing her wince at the mocking tone behind his words.

"I will take you to them," said Neko putting a hand on his shoulder and blushed behind her mask at feeling the muscles behind them were rippling with strength.

Moments later, Naruto found himself in the meeting room filled with all the key people in the Leaf that make it run, and unfortunately for the blonde about two thirds of all those seated in positions of power within this room were filled with people that hated his guts. The Clan Heads had been willing to give him a fair shake, which excluded the Uchiha Clan before, and after the massacre. It was everyone else that Naruto wanted to rip to pieces, as they all glared, sneered, and wanted to spit in the direction of his feet while wishing they could be able to aim higher with the notion that his face would be the best target to show their disrespect of him.

"Do you know why you are here?" said the Sandaime seeing Naruto giving him a blank look.

"Officially? Yes. I'm here to claim what is mine. My family's inheritance, my right to be a mercenary for hire rather then a Leaf Shinobi, and live my life how I see fit. That was deal old man. Unless of course...you decided to back out of the deal and have me come here just to bring about my silence," said Naruto narrowing his blue eye at the Sandaime.

"No Naru-I mean _Gray Fox_. You will get what you asked," said the Sandaime seeing the boy looking at him suspiciously.

"Why do I hear a '_but_' coming up in the next sentence?" said Naruto seeing the Third let out a tired sigh.

"_But_ the Councils feel you should _earn_ your status before it becomes official and want to send you on _one _mission before you can claim your rights to being a mercenary with the privileges that go with it," said the Sandaime knowing that the loophole for such things fell along the lines of veteran Shinobi having done more then _two_ A-class missions and wish to seek an independent workload in terms of doing missions.

Naruto had two such missions in his pocket after what happened with the Mizuki incident and then again when escorting Tazuna to Wave Country with team 7 before protecting him from Momochi Zabuza. Another thing, no one used that law in _decades_, as it made people suspicious of you in the fact it questioned one's loyalty, and could get you killed by Leaf Shinobi on the Fire Shadow's orders if you were suspected of it with ample proof to backup the suspicions. Not only that, but while the money was normally good, the line of clientele were surprisingly rare due to the lack of contacts, and the money used for such a mercenary lifestyle had to be properly managed. Of course, due to Naruto's action at the Chuunin Exams, all the clients saw what the boy was capable of, and no doubt word would reach them of him becoming a solo mercenary meaning they wouldn't have to pay the Leaf so much.

"And what would that mission be?" said Naruto seeing the Councils scowl at him for showing such disrespect.

"Show respect demon! You are lucky to even be allowed your inheritance after the stunt you pulled with Uchiha-sama," said Koharu knowing the arm would require a medical expert that was equal to Tsunade.

Hence the mission.

"Why should I? You want me to show respect to all of you? A bunch of dried up, hate filled, arrogant bigots, who would ignore the Yondaime's dying wish, and make his son's like miserable all for the sake of solidifying your own power. If my Father and Mother were here right now...they would kill you all. Along with everyone in the village," said Naruto seeing the sputtering red face outrage showing on the Councils and even the Hokage's face too.

"Lies! The Yondaime loved this village. He'd protect us over you any day!" said Homura glaring at Naruto, who didn't look the least bit intimidated, and simply looked bored.

"Really? You're sure? You'd wager your life and the lives of the villagers on that? The lives of your own children? The lives of your Grandchildren too? Can you say with the most absolute of assurances that my _Father_, after learning about all the abuse I suffered at the hands of the village, thanks to all of you, would not use all his knowledge, and all his power to kill everyone responsible?" said Naruto seeing the man shut up knowing he had them beat and the other members on the Councils.

"We are getting off track here and my daughter is in need of serious medical care! The invasion put a strain on her still healing body," said Hiashi having seen the fight between Naruto and Neji making him see things in a whole new perspective.

Internally, Naruto kicked himself, as he did not know that fact about Hinata, and made a mental note to visit her later to check on the girl himself. The fact this invasion had only made the Hyuuga girl's injuries become aggravated and worse made his blood boil.

"Hiashi-san is right. We're getting off track and that's troublesome. Let's give the boy the assignment we're asking him to do and be done with this meeting," said Shikaku sighing at how this meeting felt like it would be the death of him.

"The wife wants you home again for 'important things' again, right Shikaku?" said Inoichi grinning, which made the Nara groan knowing his friends knew him all too well, and just muttered "troublesome".

"Yes. You see..._Gray Fox_, the mission we want you to go on, is to go with Jiraiya-sama, and find Senju Tsunade in order to bring her back to the Leaf so she can use her medical knowledge to heal the injured at the hospital. Without her help, the people with the most life threatening injuries will die, and weaken the Leaf further," said the Sandaime seeing the boy narrow his blue eye at him.

"Just Jiraiya? No ANBU team? No one else with tracking experience? Just me and my so called _Godfather_?" said Naruto becoming suspicious of the Hokage's motives.

"We would, but we need to conserve our forces here should there is another attack, and we need all the people able to repair the damages done to the village," said the Sandaime while trying not to sweat under the boy's piercing stare.

"Fine, but on _one _condition," said Naruto seeing the Sandaime raise an eyebrow at him.

"What is the condition?" said the Sandaime curiously.

"Mitarashi Anko assists in the mission," said Naruto making the Councils protest.

"Out of the question!" said a Civilian Councilmember.

"We'd no more trust her with this mission, then we would Orochimaru himself if he were still alive, and we will not agree to this condition," said another Civilian Councilmember.

"Civilians have no say in Shinobi affairs. It is something only the _Hokage_ can decide and without the inference of his _Advisors_," said Naruto seeing the Sandaime not liking the idea of being put on the spot like this.

"You really think she'd be an asset to the mission?" said the Sandaime seeing Naruto nod.

"I wouldn't have asked for her assistance on this if I didn't," said Naruto though he had his own reasons for having Anko tag along, but wasn't going to state them, and give the Sandaime a reason to change his mind.

"All right. Fair enough. You do realize your own pay will be reduced by asking her for assistance, right?" said the Sandaime seeing some members of the Councils smirking at the thought of screwing Naruto out of his pay.

"So long as it goes to her, I don't really care, and neither should you. When do I leave with my failure of Godfather?" said Naruto seeing the looks on their faces becoming that of frowns again and it pleased the newly made mercenary happy inside.

"Tomorrow morning," said the Sandaime.

"I'll be there," said Naruto before leaving the room.

"He needs to be forced into submission. We have not spent over a decade beating every ounce of freewill out of him just to see our efforts being usurped by the demon!" said Danzo hating that the Sandaime's plan to have Naruto under their control was chosen over his own.

"Its not so simple Danzo. The boy...he has the black book," said the Sandaime making everyone in the meeting room look surprise and scared.

"How did that monster get it? No one knows its location except the previous Hokages?" said Koharu, as she herself had never seen it, and knew even Danzo had failed on more then one occasion to locate the item in question.

"Kyuubi told him," said Shikaku making everyone look at him now.

"What?" said Tsume in surprise.

"Troublesome. Think about it. We all know what happened the night the Kyuubi attacked and how Kushina was the fox's previous vessel. The Shodaime's own wife before her was the Kyuubi's jailor, yet no one understands the concepts of communication the fox may have with its vessel, and the considerable level of strength the sealing technique used. I think the Kyuubi knew where to locate it because the wives of the previous Hokages knew where to find it. Who better for the Hokages to trust such a secret with, then with your loving wife, and trusted partner?" said Shikaku seeing everyone's eyes widen in shock.

"Sounds logical. The wives of the Hokages are told such a secret, the fox unknowingly hears this information from one, if not both of them, and saves it for a time when the moment is right. Somehow, the boy made contact with the Kyuubi during the Month long gap between the Preliminaries, and the Chuunin Exam Finals," said Shibi, as he saw the members of the Civilian, and Shinobi Council cursing at this newly acquired information.

"So how do we get it back?" said Homura, as he knew there was information in that book that if brought to light, could cripple the Leaf entirely, and their enemies would gather to crush them.

"I don't know. Even if we do, there is no guarantee that copies of various pages have been made, and ready to be sent out," said the Sandaime sighing at how things had gotten out of control.

How did things get so beyond understanding?

(Konoha Hospital-Sometime Later)

Hinata sat up in her hospital bed, loving the sunlight that came through the window, and basked in its warmth while thinking of the things she had witnessed in the past few days. The invasion, the battle with Neji, and Naruto's transformation into that stud of a warrior that only proved to everyone that she was right about him. Everyone always said he was a monster, demon, a failure, trash, and other horrible things she would rather not even think about from the deep recesses of her memories.

'Naruto-kun is not a monster. He's misunderstood,' thought Hinata, as she felt a new form of warmth reach her face not related to sun outside, but her blonde avenger in seeing his new, and improved form while wondering if what Neji did to her during the Preliminaries was what sparked this transformation in him?

That Naruto cared about her to _change_ into what he was now? If it didn't hurt so much to breath heavily, Hinata would have scoffed at how it sounded like such a cheesy romance novel, or some girl's fantasy dream.

"How are you feeling Hinata-chan?" said Naruto walking into her room, wearing black pants, boots, and t-shirt with the kanji for "Foxhound" on the back.

"N-Naruto-kun? I-I mean G-Gray Fox," said Hinata, as she felt her face heating up with a cherry red at seeing him, and without the almost skintight body armor like suit.

"Surprised? You shouldn't be. Can you answer my question Hinata-chan?" said Naruto seeing the girl continue to look red in the face, but was trying to keep it under control for health reasons, and so he didn't think she was some shy weirdo.

"I-I am well g-given the -c-circumstances. M-My past injury w-was s-strained during all fighting w-when the invasion was happening. I h-have to t-take i-it easy a-and not strain myself t-too much," said Hinata seeing the sadness in Naruto's one eye and wished to know what happened to the other now covered by an eye patch.

"Sorry I didn't see you earlier. I had no idea you were back in the hospital," said Naruto finally with Hinata's face showing her surprise at his words.

"Its not your fault. You didn't know!" said Hinata before she coughed a little with Naruto moving quickly to rub her back to help her.

"Easy Hinata-chan. Don't strain yourself. Doctors orders remember?" said Naruto seeing the girl shyly blush and nod at how close they were now.

"Of course," said Hinata trying her best not show how much she enjoyed his gentle touch along her back.

"Excellent. As for your condition, it won't be forever, as I have a mission tomorrow to find Senju Tsunade, and bring her back to heal you along with a few other people that need her medical expertise," said Naruto smiling at the girl and loved how surprised she looked at the news.

"Just you?" said Hinata wondering if he made Chuunin yet since no one among any of the Rookies or Gai's team knew if anyone was going to be promoted to Chuunin rank.

"No. I'm going with Jiraiya of the Sannin and Mitarashi Anko to help in the search," said Naruto not really having the heart to tell her about what transpired earlier at the meeting with the Councils, Clan Heads, and the Sandaime Hokage about his status being that of a mercenary from now on.

Not to mention the news of his family being brought to light.

"How long will you gone?" said Hinata knowing such a search could take weeks, even _Months_ depending on how elusive the woman truly was, and how bad her gambling debts were at the moment.

"Don't know. Jiraiya has a spy network, which can find just about anyone, and Anko has abilities for capturing people should they resist," said Naruto not telling her that he had been the one to request Mitarashi Anko join them in the first place.

That the reason the Sandaime wanted him to go along with Jiraiya in the first place was to possibly seal away everything the blonde had become before taking him back to the Leaf to have Inoichi dig through his memories for the book. An extra pair of eyes from a person, who won't backstab him after learning of Orochimaru dying by the blonde's own hands, and may even help him out should things go south during the mission.

"Come back safe. Please," said Hinata, as she wanted to see him again, and maybe _finally _tell him her feelings.

"Of course. I want to see you smile again. It's a very beautiful smile," said Naruto before leaving the room and barely caught sight of Hinata fainting back against her pillow with a huge million watt smile on her face.

(Konoha Gates-Next Day)

"Ready kid?" said Jiraiya seeing the boy walking towards him in the battle suit he wore during the Chuunin Exam Finals, but noticed the eye patch was on the other eye, and the eye it originally covered looked fine.

"We will be when Anko comes," said Naruto waiting for the Special Jounin to arrive.

"I don't think she'll make it kid," said Jiraiya casually.

"Why is that?" said Naruto narrowing his blue at Jiraiya suspiciously.

"Because no one _told me_ about the mission until you did Foxy-kun!" said Anko making herself known to the two and saw Jiraiya was now sweating nervously.

"Its Gray Fox," said Naruto having anticipated Anko being left out of the loop about the mission "accidently" and sent a Shadow Clone to tell her last night.

"Can't I call you Foxy-kun? You are hot like a fox," said Anko looking at Naruto with a predatory gaze.

She had heard Naruto was responsible for killing Orochimaru, which she wouldn't have believed had she not seen how beat up Neji was, and his knew more _hotter _look. Much better then the orange jumpsuit of a midget he had been a Month ago, who talked a big game, but had little in backing it up, and now seemed to evolve into this hunk of a still growing man before her. When the Shadow Clone came to her home, it had dodged the traps, projectiles, and venomous snake pits she had setup around her home to keep out unwanted intruders before finally meeting the Special Jounin face to face to tell her about the mission to retrieve Tsunade.

"Not in public," said Naruto, as he didn't have time to fight her on this, and refocused his attention on Jiraiya sweating heavily.

"Joy!" said Anko grabbing Naruto and placing his head to her bosom.

'If I wasn't so worried about being caught in that lie, I'd want to write what I'm seeing down for future research, and blackmail the gaki,' thought Jiraiya seeing pry Anko off of him.

"Thank you for your..._affection_ Anko-san, but we must get going, and retrieve Tsunade," said Naruto before walking towards Jiraiya, who knew the look of someone wanting to punch his lights out after catching him in a lie, and didn't like how it intensified.

"Not the face!" said Jiraiya instinctively put his arms up to protect before a searing pain hit him between the legs and caused the man to collapse onto the ground.

"Deal. _Now_ we can go," said Naruto, as he left the gate with Anko smiling at what just happened, and was doing her best to hold in her laughter.

'Damn you gaki!' thought Jiraiya, as he got off the ground, stumbling while he tried to stand fully, and proceeded to limp his way over to the two now ahead of him.

(Tanzuka City-2 Weeks Later)

"Are you sure your spy network was accurate in this Jiraiya?" said Naruto, as he saw the Sannin have a mock look of hurt on his face, and Anko also questioning the information the man got while wondering what the Hell was going on with all the dangerous people coming after the blonde.

A week ago, as they were gathering information on Tsunade's whereabouts, Uchiha Itachi along with Hoshigaki Kisame had paid a visit to Naruto at his apartment, and demanded the boy come with them. Anko was with Naruto at the time, talking, flirting, and flashing a little skin to tease the boy into having some fun when they interrupted their alone time while Jiraiya went to hook up with a woman that just come out of nowhere.

When Naruto refused to go with the two men with possible gay tendencies, which such a comment made to them upset the taller, and _blue skinned _swordsman. The man tried to take the blonde's legs right off. Kisame missed of course, as he tried again, and again repeatedly with each swing while Itachi just watched with narrow eyes at the sight of the boy being much stronger then either Akatsuki member first thought.

Anko had been hesitant to engage Itachi, as she knew his Sharingan Eyes were not to be trifled with, and decided to wait on the sidelines like he was. After Naruto confirmed it was Itachi, the two talked while Naruto kept dodging Kisame's sword swings, and even injured the swordsman a few times with a couple of hits to the man's body. Apparently, Itachi didn't know just how screwed up Sasuke was on account of his actions four years ago, and how that good for nothing brother had lost his arm at the elbow for it.

Something, Naruto had no problem telling the man just as he did a spin kick that struck Kisame right in the face with enough force to send the man skidding back to where Itachi was, and just in time for Jiraiya to _finally _show up. After some bolstering, insulting, and the area changing into a huge Toad Summons stomach later the two Akatsuki members were able to flee.

After _that _happened, Naruto wanted answers from the Sannin, who admitted that there _was_, and still _is_ a group of S-class Missing Nin called the Akatsuki hunting down all nine tailed beasts for reasons Jiraiya had yet to find out. When Naruto asked why the Sannin didn't come back sooner or simply stay in Konoha after Kyuubi was sealed to help train him to further prepare for such foes? All Naruto got from the Sannin was silence on the matter and it was then the blonde knew the answer.

Because in the event the organization couldn't be stopped, they were going to hand him over, and keep the peace at his expense.

Since then, the two had barely spoken, and Naruto kept his senses sharp when sleeping in case Jiraiya tried to do any kind of sealing on his person. Anko herself had also found the Leaf's actions detestable, as they were not suppose to go through with such actions on one of their own, and also kept an eye on the Sannin for Naruto's sake.

She owed him that much after killing Orochimaru.

"Trust me. She's here. People don't forget Tsunade when she's out drinking or gambling. _Especially_ if she's gambling," said Jiraiya knowing the woman could and would cause a lot of damage just to escape paying off debts.

"And not because the woman's bust size is what makes every single guy you ask have a perverted grin on their face," said Naruto having looked the woman up in the Bingo Book and saw her picture with the large breasts for a woman her age to still have.

"That too," said Jiraiya while getting a glare from both Naruto and Anko.

"Remind me to kick you in the balls again before this is over. Better yet, I want Anko to remind me," said Naruto seeing Anko grin and Jiraiya go pale.

"Don't worry gaki. I'll remember to tell you...if I can get a shot in..._and_ get a date in the future," said Anko grinning further like her usual maniac self.

"Deal," said Naruto making Jiraiya's face go paler then ever.

"Hot damn! Do I love my life or what!" said Anko with a fist punching the sky above.

"Remember Anko-san. The date is in the future. Let's focus on the present," said Naruto heading into the city with the Special Jounin right behind him.

"I'm going to be pissing blood for awhile. I just know it," said Jiraiya to himself while he followed them.

Naruto ignored the stares he got from people, as they were wondering what could bring a strange man in a metallic nearly skin tight suit of body armor, which could be seen only from the front on account of the trench coat he wore, and it made people nervous. As far as the people around them were concerned, they were on a mission, and by the serious face Naruto was sporting it could get violent in a hurry. The people around them quickly left the area, as they didn't want to be apart of such violence, if it ever came to be, and rather not witness such things.

"We make quite the pair Foxy-kun," said Anko grinning at the boy, who apparently also liked to wear trench coats, and thought they made Shinobi look badass.

"Remember Anko-san, you have to call me _Gray Fox_ when in public, or that date you want will be delayed," said Naruto hearing Anko whine, but caved in since he was taking his job seriously, and they already had to deal with the Akatsuki.

_**"Use your sense of smell kit. If this woman drinks as much sake' as the Super Pervert claims, then there is a good chance she's doing that right now, and pick up a lot of it from a single person,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing Naruto mentally nod and sniff the air for the scent of someone drinking a lot of sake'.

And found her coincidentally enough in the bar they were about to pass.

"Tsunade's in there," said Naruto pointing to the bar.

"You sure?" said Anko wondering how he knew.

"The nose knows," said Naruto tapping his nose and seeing Anko smirking.

"Really? Care to take a sniff me?" said Anko seeing Naruto smirk back.

"Another time Anko-san. Mission first, remember?" said Naruto entering the bar with Anko right behind him.

"Just saying. The offers always there," said Anko putting her hand on his shoulder and saw him smile.

"I'll remember that for a later time," said Naruto hoping to catch Tsunade off guard since the woman was looking at the sake' bottle in front of her and keep the Sannin's female companion holding the makeup wearing pig with a pearl necklace busy.

"TSUNADE-HIME!" yelled Jiraiya once he entered the bar and thus ruined the element of surprise.

'Baka!' thought Naruto and Anko at the same time.

"Jiraiya? What are you doing here?" said Tsunade before she notice Naruto and Anko looking at her.

"What? An old teammate can't stop by an-OW!" said Jiraiya, who was punched hard in the face by both Naruto, and Anko for his stupidity that sent him through a wall.

"The man must love the abuse he's been put through. Makes you think," said Naruto with Anko smirking at the insinuation of how Jiraiya liked it in the sack.

"Now that you hit the pervert out of the room with that impressive display of combined strength, care to explain why Konoha Shinobi are here to see me, and why should I even care?" said Tsunade with Anko sitting down while Naruto continued to stand.

"_I_ am a Konoha Shinobi. He's...well _Gray Fox_ here recently became mercenary using a few legal loopholes within the laws of Konoha. As to why we are here? The Sandaime wants you back to heal the injured in the Leaf after the invasion lead by Orochimaru-teme. Just so you know, Gray Fox here was the one to kill Orochimaru, and saved the Leaf," said Anko with a smile on her face in actually saying the Sannin was dead.

"Orochimaru is dead? Are you sure?" said Tsunade seeing Naruto nod.

"I took off his head clean and then burned his body into ash that blew into the wind," said Naruto seeing Tsunade scowl slightly knowing that her former teammate was dead now.

"I refuse. I'm not going back," said Tsunade with determination in her voice and eyes.

"What? Why? Konoha needs you. Even with the invasion stopped, there are civilians, and Shinobi in need of your skills," said Anko seeing the woman shrug.

"You have medics and doctors in Konoha. Surely they haven't been slacking off since I left?" said Tsunade with a raised eyebrow.

"You'd be surprised," said Naruto narrowing his eye at her.

"Just who are you exactly? I know Gray Fox isn't your real name so just cut the crap and tell me what it is right now," said Tsunade seeing Naruto smirk.

"Would you like to know? Ask your remaining teammate. Ask him what the Sandaime and he did in terms of lying to your face about something over a decade in the making. Ask him what _really _happened to your Godson the day Kyuubi attacked? Then you can see me about what my _real_ name is," said Naruto leaving the woman to figure things out on her own.

He was overdue for meditation and a spar with his three senseis.

"What's he talking about?" said Tsunade with Jiraiya making his way over to the table.

"I uh...I kind of..._lied_ when I told you that your Godson died after the Kyuubi was sealed inside of him. In fact, the kid you just saw _is _your Godson, and Kyuubi's vessel. Uzumaki Naruto or rather _Namikaze _Naruto," said Jiraiya, who was once again punched in the face, and sent into another wall.

"What? You lied to me? To _me_! What in Hell's name for?" said Tsunade, as she quickly grabbed Jiraiya by the throat, and looked him dead in the eye with the anger now burning the alcohol out of her system.

"It was sensei's idea. He suspect the gaki would be the Child of Prophecy and felt that it was best to keep him in Konoha in order to control it to keep the Leaf from possibly being destroyed by it," said Jiraiya, as he had told Tsunade about the prophecy, but she never believed in such nonsense, and even if she _did_...it didn't mean her Godson had to pay for it.

"Bullshit! Sensei just wanted the boy to be his pet and keep him on a leash by having the village abuse the boy to break his spirit. You betrayed your Godson Jiraiya. You betrayed the Fourth's son to arrogant bigots within the Leaf!" said Tsunade, as she didn't care who heard her, and didn't care if she wasn't supposed to say anything about it.

"I felt bad Tsunade. I did. Even if I wanted to go against it, the Councils, and the Uchiha Clan all supported the idea with the other Clans only providing _some_ support to help the boy," said Jiraiya, who felt his windpipe slowly being crushed by Tsunade, and the rage her eyes even surpassed that day when she caught him peeping on her in the hot springs before beating his body within an inch of his life.

Literally!

"If you felt bad, then you would have come back to Konoha sooner, and done something about his abuse. Yet you didn't! Minato would be ashamed of you!" said Tsunade, as she threw him down to the ground, and ran after her Godson.

"She's right you know," said Anko while seeing the Sannin and the other woman follow after her.

"We do what is asked of us Anko-san. Even if we don't like the order given," said Jiraiya getting up from the ground, only to the socked in the face, and into another table.

"Don't hand me that crap you perverted baka! You are no better then Orochimaru," said Anko leaving the downed Sannin to think about what she told him while the Special Jounin herself went to find the rest of the group.

(With Naruto)

Naruto learned that mediation was an essential part to a samurai's life when he was in the Land of Iron, allowing one to focus themselves, and harness their power from within. The blonde warrior found this to be useful whether he was Shinobi, mercenary, or just being the Kyuubi's vessel. It kept his mind sharp, focused, and ready for anything that was a threat to him.

_**"So how do you think your Godmother took the news?"**_ said Kyuubi simply.

"I imagine she's pissed off and will no doubt search for me after stomping on Jiraiya for a bit before Anko gets in a shot or two,' thought Naruto smiling at the idea.

"I can't believe a woman can have natural breasts that size in your world. Are you sure they're real and not implants?" said Big Boss, as he didn't believe for one second those things were _all _natural, and for a woman in her 50s no less.

'Let me get this straight. You can believe in fighting for a cause worth believing in, you can believe there is a nine-tailed fox sealed inside of me, _but_ you _don't_ believe Tsunade's boobs are _real_, _and_ that they are staying that way naturally _regardless_ of her age. Right?' thought Naruto seeing Big Boss nod.

"Trust me kid. In my time, women got implants on those things to make themselves look sexier, and it only worked for so long until they got to that woman's age. Then the breasts would just...well its better not to think about it," said Big Boss seeing Ocelot and Frank snicker at the look on his face.

'I'll take your word for it. Just don't bring it up again,' thought Naruto seeing Big Boss nod in agreement.

"Naruto?" said Tsunade seeing him on the hill mediating with his HF sword in his lap.

"Its Gray Fox now. At least until you can prove yourself to me," said Naruto seeing the woman look hurt by that, but in a way she could understand on account of so many lies, and backhanded deals thrown his way.

Hell she'd have changed her name to Mrs. Flat de la Chest if it meant leaving the Leaf behind in its entirety.

"I understand. Can I ask...what your life was like in the Leaf?" said Tsunade seeing his back stiffen slightly.

"In a nutshell? It was a life of pain, leaving scars you can't see, but they are there, and they burn in my soul even now thanks to the Sandaime's lies. When I was younger, the beatings would be bad, worse on my birthdays, but the old man would tell me everything would be all right, and one day they would see past their hate. I was _5 years old_ when he first told me that," said Naruto before getting off the ground, sheathing his HF sword, and then looked at his Godmother to see the tears running down her cheek.

"I'd kill my sensei now if he weren't Hokage," said Tsunade wishing she could crush the old heart of that senile excuse of a Hokage.

"I have a better idea," said Naruto seeing Tsunade was indeed the loving Godmother he hoped she'd be.

"What?" said Tsunade seeing Naruto smirking.

"Simple. You take the mantle of Hokage...and _clean house_," said Naruto, as Tsunade's eyes widen in surprise, and so did the woman behind her.

"H-Hokage? But Tsunade-sama hates that position. She...," said the woman holding the pig, but was silence by the glare form Tsunade, and knew it was not wise to say anything else.

"Be quiet Shizune! You make an interesting point. Being Hokage would allow me the chance to fix what the old man broke in my Grandfather's village. Though what about your position in the village. From what that woman told me in the bar, you declared yourself a mercenary now, and from what I remember about those laws you can do just about whatever you want in terms of missions while cutting the Leaf out in terms of the middleman," said Tsunade knowing her Grandfather had put those laws was to ensure Leaf Shinobi could still make a form of income should they seek official retirement, but couldn't do anything else, and needed to do some work on the sides from time to time.

"Write up a contract, which employs me, as your personal mercenary, and that it states only _you _can send me on missions for the Leaf. I stay in the Leaf to help you clean house, I stay out of the reaching control the Councils will try to make, and we stick to every single one of those assholes in the Leaf," said Naruto seeing Tsunade smirk at the idea.

"And here I thought you were just going to leave Konoha the instant the opportunity presented itself.," said Anko having made herself known to the group.

"What? And miss out on all the fun? I'm looking forward to seeing the Sandaime out of power, the Councils removed from power, and the reconstruction of the Leaf into what it should have been during my Father's reign," said Naruto seeing Tsunade nod and letting an evil smirk appear on her face.

"What about Jiraiya-san? He might report this plan to the Sandaime ahead of time," said Shizune seeing the group now frown.

"Tsunade, you can heal any severe injury right?" said Naruto seeing Tsunade nod.

"Yes. Within reason and the right medical equipment depending on the injury. Why?" said Tsunade seeing Naruto grinning an evil grin and she thought his one seeable blue eye turn crimson for a second.

"Oh no reason. I was just thinking I could show you what one my teachers have shown me in terms of the ultimate form of expression that is torture with Jiraiya being the ever so gracious..._test subject_," said Naruto letting out a chuckle and then went in pursuit of the Toad Sannin.

"I think I just had an orgasm," said Anko, as she just heard the best expressed way to describe her job, and soon had hearts in her eyes before searching for Naruto.

"Life is going to get complicated now, isn't it Tsunade-sama?" said Shizune worriedly.

"Shizune, life was complicated the moment the gaki was born, and personally I would rather not be bored to death while in the Leaf. Come on. Something tells me our medical skills will be needed for whatever Naruto has in mind for the pervert and even more when Anko gets involved," said Tsunade with the two Medic Nins plus spoiled pig following the chakra signatures of the Special Jounin and the Sannin's Godson.

(A/N: YAY! I updated again and holy crap did I write a long chapter. One of the longest ever written. Hope you enjoy this. I mean it. I'm thinking of making this a harem. Not sure if I should or not, but the signs are there, yet I'm not sure if they will stay, and I'm curious what you think? Before you review and saying anything, Hinata is _IN_ so if you want out now, make a review, then leave, and find another fic with her not paired with him. Let me know what you think though. I do appreciate your opinions, except when they are flames because flamers suck ass, and most haven't written anything so they have no right to pass judgment on us. Until next time...PEACE!)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-Prison Break

Naruto walked into Konoha with Tsunade, Shizune, and Anko right beside him with a bandaged trailing Jiraiya a few feet away in crutches. Why was Jiraiya even in crutches? Simple. Anko told Tsunade and Shizune about Naruto suspecting Jiraiya was ordered to seal away the blonde's new found power before sending him back to Konoha afterwards so the Third Hokage could have his memories altered if not erased. It was one of the reasons Naruto wished Anko to join him in the mission, as to keep a pair of eyes on the Toad Sannin should he even try, and make an attempt at doing such sealing.

That in mind, Tsunade had questioned Jiraiya about it with her former teammate not even giving a straight answer, which resulted in a punch to the face, and demanding a straight answer. In all honesty, the Slug Princess was tired of all the cloak, and dagger kind of way this was being handled behind her back. After a few more attempts at getting one, Naruto intervene saying that Jiraiya was already answering by _not _even giving a straight answer, and that the Slug Princess's suspicions of the Toad Sannin's secret mission was in fact confirmed.

This event soon led to Tsunade breaking most of the bones in the pervert's body while only healing about half of them so they could get back to the Leaf at a marginal pace.

"The village seems to have taken a mean black eye," said Tsunade seeing some of the damaged homes had been repaired at a satisfactory rate though you could see how the damage was done.

"That it did. Had my Father and Mother still been alive they would _never _have let that happen," said Naruto walking towards the Hokage Tower, ignoring the looks from the people around him, and how they were surprised to see him alive.

"This place has gotten soft since my time away. I'm looking forward to giving this place a sharp kick in the ass," said Tsunade before the group made it to the Hokage's Tower and she kicked down the door to the Hokage's Office.

"Tsunade? Why did you kick down my door? Where is Jiraiya?" said the Sandaime, only to have his second question answered when Jiraiya came hobbling in, and saw the man shake his head no at the Hokage that his secret mission failed.

"You seem a bit surprised sensei. Surprised Jiraiya succeeded in finding me _before_ he had a chance to send my _Godson_, whoI was told had been _dead _for over a decade back here to be nothing short of being blind, deaf, and dumb!" said Tsunade seeing the Hokage go pale in fear at seeing the secret mission given to Jiraiya within the one to find her being discovered.

"It wasn't hard to figure out old man. Why else send me on this mission with the promise of having my status as a mercenary approved? Jiraiya is a Seal Master. Everyone knows that and you knew the man could bring her back without me. Why send just me? Why not send Anko, an ANBU team, or any other with Jiraiya in terms of backup? Simple. You wanted Jiraiya to lock away my powers, send me back, and then have someone in the Yamanaka Clan do their thing inside my mind. It was so seeable it was pathetic," said Naruto seeing the Sandaime scowling slightly at him for the insult.

"It was for your own good Naruto. Everything I have done has been for your own good and you have to accept that!" said the Sandaime before Naruto assaulted him with killer intent.

"_Don't_ call me by my real name. You are _unworthy_ of speaking it. As for this 'being for my own good', I think you better _rethink_ those words because the majority of the people in this room know its _BULL_, and to even use that excuse just proves how senile you've become!" said Naruto seeing the Hokage was less then pleased by his defiance.

"That's enough Naruto. I don't care what you think in regards to the name you go by since I will never accept you 'Codename' or your mercenary status," said the Sandaime seeing Naruto's eye narrow further.

"That was the stipulation for the mission old man. I bring her back, I become a merc, and everyone walks away happy. Are you telling me, I was _never _meant to come back here with Tsunade, and complete the mission?" said Naruto seeing the Sandaime not backing down on account of his pride being struck by a boy old enough to be his Grandson.

Something Naruto wanted since pride could be labeled a weakness and the Sandaime was loaded with pride in his years of accomplishments.

"I'm _telling _you it doesn't matter what the stipulations were in regards to this mission you went on with Jiraiya, as you will _never _be anything, but what _I _say you are so long as _I'm_ Hokage, and you will not disobey me Naruto. When this meeting is over, you will have all your new skills, powers, and abilities you've acquired in the last Month to be sealed away while your mind is altered or most likely wiped of all that you've accomplished," said the Sandaime angrily before he was blasted by an even greater wave of killer intent, but this time it wasn't from Naruto, and turned to the source of only one other person capable of producing such levels.

Senju Tsunade in full protective Godmother mode.

"That happens sensei and I swear on my Grandfather _and_ Granduncle's grave I will burn this village to the ground with you along with it buried with all the arrogant bigots in this place!" said Tsunade right up to the Hokage's desk and slammed her fist into leaving a heavy imprint of her hand there.

"T-Tsunade-hime be reasonable! The boy could be the Child of Prophecy I told sensei about. For the safety of the village, he _must_ be contained, and controlled," said Jiraiya, who was punched out of the room by Tsunade, and she returned to glaring at the old man before her.

"I've heard enough about my Godson's life to last me three lifetimes worth of nightmares knowing any such abuse he suffered could have been stopped by my hands if I had been here. Over a _decade_ of abuse because I listened to the lies told to me by you and that Kami damned pervert! No more! You're unfit to be Hokage my oh so called _sensei_. _I_ am taking over here as the new Hokage and if you choose to fight me on this I'll tell the Fire Daimyo _everything_ that has happened to Naruto in such a way the man will _order _your death _personally_!" said Tsunade looking right into the eyes of the Sandaime and dared him to challenge her.

The Sandaime looked at Tsunade, then at Naruto seeing his one blue eye glaring at him, and knew that while the female Sannin maybe bluffing...the boy was not. The boy had nothing to lose and everything to gain with Tsunade being the same since neither had any love much less loyalty for the village. The truth had broken the false trust the Sandaime had spent years instilling into Naruto through lies knowing that _should_ the blonde be the Child of Prophecy, it would allow the Leaf to survive, _and _influence a powerful force to fight for them.

"She's offering you a way out old man. Take it. Take it or she will kill you. You sense it, can't you? You will die at her hands. Slowly. Painfully. Dishonorably. Nothing more then what you so rightfully deserve given the reasons behind such a desire to end your life, but this move against you to be your successor is as sentimental as she's going to get, and it would be foolish to squander this single act of mercy," said Naruto seeing the Sandaime's eyes widen at that and then narrow dangerously.

"We clearly have a different point of view on the matter when it comes to being merciful to others," said the Sandaime seeing Tsunade lean closer so she was inches from the old Kage's face.

"Last chance sensei. Speak now or forever hold your peace before I spread your guts all over this room," said Tsunade seeing the Sandaime not budging for a few minutes before he closed his eyes, and sighed in defeat knowing the woman along with the boy had him by the balls.

"Fine! Take the title, but know that the Councils will _never_ support any kind of decision that benefits the boy, and neither will the village in general. They will _always_ hate him and there is nothing you can do to change that!" said the Sandaime glaring at Tsunade though she was not backing down.

Unlike the Sandaime, the female Senju had a good reason to be angry while the old Kage was angry out of spite, and just being selfish.

"Tough shit sensei. Get the Hell out of that chair now! You have stained the honor of the title Hokage for that last time," said Tsunade before yanking the hat right off the Third's head and putting it on her own.

"The hat suits you _Hokage-sama_," said Naruto bowing to the new Hokage with respect and saw her giving him a victory sign with a smile.

"Yeah. It does. Now onto business," said Tsunade grinning a devious grin that spelled doom for those that wronged her family.

(Hokage Tower-Meeting Room-Days Later)

"Why are we here? This meeting is not needed," said Homura, as he was waiting for the Sandaime to arrive, and hated waiting.

"The Hokage requested this meeting Homura-san. One does not refuse such a request by the Hokage for an important meeting," said Tsume, as she along with the rest of the Clan Heads were curious to the nature of this meeting, and for what exactly was needed of them.

"And yet here we wait," said Danzo knowing this was taking him away from his business with Root and anytime running it wasted on meetings like this was time needed to gain control of things he wanted.

"For good reason Danzo," said Tsunade spinning the Hokage's chair around for everyone to see her wearing the Hokage hat and robes over the usual attire she wore.

"What is the meaning of this? The mission the Sandaime sent Jiraiya and the demon brat on was for you to return to the village to heal the injured from the invasion. Not sit in the Hokage's chair in the Sandaime's place!" said Koharu before seeing Naruto appear from the shadows behind Tsunade wearing a trench coat with the kanji for _FOX_ written on the back.

"Things have changed in the past few days while at the hospital. Sarutobi-sensei is no longer capable of running the Leaf as the Hokage of the village. Being the best medical professional in all the Elemental Countries, I have decreed him unfit for duty on account of his old age, and senile state of mind. With what mental state he had left, my oh so very _humble_ sensei made me Hokage in his place, and to rule over Konoha as _I_ see fit," said Tsunade, which was a lie of course for the most part, but it was official in terms of the passing the title in naming a successor, and she in turn personally threw the old man into a special hospital room before pumping him full of drugs needed to keep her old sensei down for the count while still breathing for years to come.

Tsunade had decided Sarutobi Hiruzen would live, _but_ for his crimes against her Godson, she placed him in a prison of his own mind, and made sure the man's life reflected that. Tsunade used her own knowledge of Genjutsu when directed on the mind from the years of experience to put the now retired for a second time Hokage into a nightmarish Hell where Naruto's life filled with pain would become the old man's.

All until the day he died.

"Then your first order of business is to punish the demon brat for his crimes against the Uchiha!" said a Civilian Councilman before he was silenced further by Tsunade's glare.

"Call my Godson that again and you'll be obliterated on the spot. As for Nar-excuse me _Gray Fox's_ actions regarding the Uchiha, I'm afraid such a thing is not possible, as the boy is no longer a member of our Shinobi forces here in Konoha, and has been officially made a mercenary for hire," said Tsunade hearing the Councils protesting, slamming their fists, and wanting the boy's blood for his actions against the Uchiha.

"On what grounds?" said Koharu seeing Tsunade raise an eyebrow at her.

"What grounds? Let's see, I believe it was stipulated in the mission by my predecessor that, and I quote: 'Should one Uzumaki Naruto A.K.A. Gray Fox return with Jiraiya with Senju Tsunade, he will be granted his right to become a mercenary, and take on missions that benefit him'. _End_ quote," said Tsunade throwing down the mission scroll with the terms stated clear as day on them.

"Tsunade-sama is correct. Gray Fox has earned the right to be a mercenary," said Shibi seeing no reason to deny the blonde what he wanted.

"It doesn't matter. The boy was a Genin at the time of the invasion and committed the act of treason against the Leaf by taking Uchiha Sasuke's arm off at the elbow. He must be punished for this act," said Danzo seeing the Shinobi Council grinning.

"Fine! I'll punish him in my own way. Bad Gray Fox!" said Tsunade tapping lightly on the shoulder with Naruto mockingly holding his arm as if in pain.

"Oh no the pain! The pain! I am _truly_ sorry Hokage-sama. I won't do it ever again. Have mercy!" said Naruto mockingly moving about behind her as if in pain from the touch.

"Okay. Punishment served," said Tsunade while smiling a cheeky smile at Danzo, who was not amused, and neither was the rest of the Councils.

"That doesn't count!" said Koharu seeing Tsunade raise an eyebrow.

"Actually, it does under the laws of this village stating any punishment to a Shinobi will _ultimately _be decided by the Hokage, and since I've punished him we'll end this matter as being closed," said Tsunade smiling at their angry face and knew she hit them where it hurt the most in this matter.

"Then we demand to know how the _boy_ became so strong and demand that he teach it to Uchiha-sama!" said Homura, as he glared at the boy in question, who ignored him on account of being glared at by far stronger people, and did little to make Naruto feel like he should submit.

"Can't teach him. Part of my bloodline and therefore fall under Clan Secrets," said Naruto knowing that would be the official story.

"You will teach him how your Taijutsu style and the way you wielded that sword!" said Koharu seeing the boy shake his head no.

"Out of the question. They are part of my clan's style on my Mother's side," lied Naruto seeing the Councils gritting their teeth in anger.

"Besides, Gray Fox is a mercenary now, and doesn't answer to you. He only answers to me, as I was able to get him signed to fat contract for several years of service, and will only answer to me. In the event I am removed from my position via coup, assassination, retirement, or any kind of ousting in general then he can be freed of all responsibilities to working for the Leaf while living his life how he sees fit," said Tsunade showing them a copy of the contract with the Hokage's Seal on it with her signature.

"Then we order you to punish the boy further then that simple _poke_ of yours," said Danzo seeing Tsunade looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"And _who_ or _what_ gives you the authority to order _me_ around. The Sandaime may have let you do that, if only to ease his guilt over where my Godson is concerned, _but_ let me make one thing crystal clear so this is understood right here, and now for everyone in this room. _I_ am the Hokage. _I _cannot and _will not _be ordered by anyone in this room to do something I disagree with. This is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship and _I _am the ruler of it whether you bakas like it or not. If you don't? Resign! I can find plenty of people capable of replacing you and don't think I can't," said Tsunade seeing the members of the Civilian Council trembling in fear.

"What about the Uchiha? His arm needs to be put back into place and soon!" said Koharu seeing Tsunade scowl at her.

"I already did the surgery. Had my medic program been implemented years ago like I had _requested_, then your precious Uchiha would have been healed already, and the sudden need to have me back here would not be required at all. Not that it matters right now. The boy is going to need intense physical therapy to make the arm work again properly and even then forming hand signs for Jutsus much less one in particular in his arsenal will be exceedingly difficult. In fact, he should have _never_ learned that kind of Jutsu in the first place by his so called _sensei_, and I intend to deal with the man accordingly in my own way," said Tsunade knowing she and Hatake were going to have a nice long _chat_ about this.

"Hokage-sama, what of my daughter? I've been tied up in clan business recently that I can't spend anytime visiting her," said Hiashi, as he was dealing with a flurry of activity within his clan, and dealing with his twin brother's son regarding the truth behind that day so many years ago.

"She's doing fine now Hiashi. Though I don't need to express to you on just how upset I am at her cousin's actions. Had I not come back to heal her injuries, they could have been damaging to her in the distant future, and maybe even death if too much strain from due to her Shinobi training," said Tsunade seeing Hiashi nod.

"I am dealing with that at home as we speak Hokage-sama," said Hiashi with the female Hokage looking at him for a second before readdressing everyone else.

"This meeting is now officially over. Everyone here except Shizune and Gray Fox are to allowed to leave before I throw you out," said Tsunade seeing everyone leave with only her assistant and Naruto staying behind.

"Not a bad first day as Hokage," said Naruto grinning at Tsunade, who smirked back, and so did Shizune.

"I think I laid down the law pretty well," said Tsunade confidently.

"Just make sure you constantly enforce it," said Naruto seeing Tsunade nod in agreement.

"I have no problem doing that," said Tsunade grinning at him.

"I've noticed. If you have no assignments for me Godmother, I'll take my leave, and take care of some things at the Namikaze Estates," said Naruto before leaving the room.

"You're playing a dangerous game here Tsunade-hime," said Jiraiya, who was now fully healed, and was concerned by how things were now changing.

"Like you and sensei did with Naruto? The only reason I don't destroy you permanently is because of your skills and spy network. Sensei may have let you go about doing whatever you wanted while ignoring your Godson, but I won't tolerate it, and make sure you pay up to your mistakes regarding Minato's son," said Tsunade knowing Jiraiya wasn't going to like that.

"And what exactly did you have in mind?" said Jiraiya cautiously.

"Give Naruto the Toad Summoning Contract," said Tsunade simply.

"No! Out of the question Tsunade. With Kyuubi's chakra added to the mix of his own, Naruto could easily summon Gamabunta, and the Toad Boss has never been happy ever since Minato died," said Jiraiya seeing Tsunade's eyes narrow at him.

"Perhaps Gamabunta won't be so grumpy upon learning Minato's son is _alive_! Did you even think of that? Of course you did, but then again, you always did use ever muscle in your body _except_ the one that counted, and we both know its not the one _down there _I'm referring to," said Tsunade seeing Jiraiya grimace.

"Damn it Tsunade! The boy could undo everything about the way things are done in the Elemental Countries. That's a lot of upheaval. A lot of pain. A lot of death," said Jiraiya hoping to appeal to the doctor in Tsunade.

"Maybe you're right about the upheaval Naruto will cause, but right now the world is in a painful state of the same old routine, and I for one am sick of it. You _will _teach Naruto how to summon Toads or I will summon one of my slugs to tell the Toads the truth about Minato's son and how _you _kept it from Gamabunta," said Tsunade seeing Jiraiya go pale knowing the resulting aftermath of that situation.

Gamabunta would remove Jiraiya from summoning Toads and perform an emergency summons to give Naruto that honor personally.

"All right! Fine! I just hope you know what you're doing Tsunade," said Jiraiya before leaving from the very window he was on.

(Hokage Tower-Interrogation Holding Cells-With the Sound Four)

They sat there detained, each in a small prison cell barely large enough to hold a bed, a less then sanitary looking toilet was connected to the wall several feet from where they each sleep, and all four of them wanted out. Each one of them different, but had served a single purpose in following one person, and loyally without question.

They were the Sound Four.

"How do we get out of here? Anyone have an idea?" said Kidomaru since the walls were not thick enough to keep out their voices.

A tactic used by the Leaf to eavesdrop on information prisoners give to each other when bored and need something to do.

"No. Not surprising given our chakra is temporarily sealed away in these shackles," said Sakon calmly.

"What about you Jirobo? Can't you use that strength of yours to smash one of these walls down?" said Ukon next to his brother.

"No. The walls are strong enough to repel my level of strength," said Jirobo having hit the wall and it made a loud noise just without the dent.

"Keep it down fat ass. Some of us are trying to sleep!" said Tayuya at being denied sleep through their talking of escape.

"What's wrong Tayuya-chan? Trying to have naughty dreams about that blonde again?" said Sakon laughing with the others knowing the redheaded girl of the group had been heard having such dreams after Tayuya witnessed some of the blonde's skills fighting Orochimaru before she lost complete consciousness.

"Shut the fuck up! It wasn't like that. I dreamt he was beating the crap out of me," said Tayuya blushing red with embarrassment and their laughter increased.

"Oh it was one of _those_ naughty dreams. I didn't take you for a sub Tayuya-chan," said Kidomaru making the others laugh harder and Tayuya angrier.

"Shut up you cock sucking pig fucker!" said Tayuya punching the wall and kept hearing the others laughing at her.

The laughter at the girl's expense was soon cut short when a powerful explosion on the wall farthest from each of them shook the area around them to reveal Kabuto, Kimimaro, and an assault squad of Sound Shinobi. With ease, he freed them of their shackles, and motioned them to follow.

"Orochimaru-sama maybe gone, but that doesn't mean your duty to him is gone, as I am in charge, and you will now be taking orders from me," said Kabuto seeing the Sound Four nod though he missed Tayuya looking back at the Leaf when they began to flee.

She didn't know why, but the thought of working for Orochimaru's second-in-command wasn't exactly make her hear jump for joy, and there was always a chance they would get caught. Not just by the Jounin or the ANBU, but by the blonde brat responsible for their Master's death, and Tayuya didn't want to fight a guy like that on account of so many different stories being told that didn't really make sense to her. The kid was a demon. The demon had broken free. Was possessing its vessel while tearing apart people all over the village.

It didn't make sense to her.

(Hokage's Office)

"There's been a break in at the Interrogation Cells! All four of Orochimaru's bodyguards have escaped!" said a Chuunin running into the Hokage's Office.

"Dispatch any Shinobi we can to catch them. I want _two _of them alive at the very least," said Tsunade before turning to Naruto, who also happened to be in the office discussing some ideas for the changes made to the Academy while replacing the instructors there with the exception of Iruka.

"I suppose you want my help with this, right? Okay! Time to earn my fee," said Naruto, as he was heading out via the window since heading out through the door would only make the Sound Four get farther away.

"Naruto, please be careful on _all_ counts. I don't know who was sent to free Orochimaru's bodyguards, but they are clearly being led by someone strong, and I don't need to remind you of the possibility of foes within the village too," said Tsunade, as she knew like her Godson did that there were still a large number of people, who hated Naruto, and among the Shinobi in the majority would gladly use this mission to get what they want.

"I'll keep an eye out for them," said Naruto giving a mock salute and then leaped through the window.

"Send Neko's and her team out to support him," said Tsunade, as she saw Shizune nod, and left to get the team dispatched.

(Outside of Konoha-Sometime Later)

"We have to hurry. By now, Leaf forces have been sent out to capture, or kill us should we prove to be too much trouble," said Kabuto, as he had no intention of staying in the Leaf's territory anymore then he had to, and fight its forces.

It would only bring more into Rice Country and Kabuto didn't want to give Leaf Shinobi an excuse to enter the country to hunt for Sound bases.

"How much further?" said Kidomaru, as he leaped through the trees behind Kabuto, and was a bit surprised to see Kimimaro out in the field given the albino's condition.

"Not too far. Within the next few hours, we will be free of the Leaf, and all its Shinobi," said Kabuto smirking at outsmarting Konoha's forces.

Of course, the smirk was soon removed from his face when a barrage of kunai struck from the trees killing some of the Sound Shinobi, and hit Jirobo in his right arm. Crying out in pain, Jirobo along with everyone else now looked around to see just who had the guts to strike out so suddenly, and formed a defensive formation around Kabuto when they went for solid ground.

"You should have suppressed your chakra. It would have made it more difficult to find you," said Naruto through the shadows of the forest while looking at the Sound Shinobi.

'Its him!' thought Tayuya knowing without her flute she was screwed.

"So Konoha demon vessel has come to hunt us down like the pet he is to them. I find it interesting you would have a fox in you, yet the way you obediently go to fetch us at the command of the Hokage, and makes me think you're more of a pet dog on a leash," said Kabuto earning a few snickers from the group.

"And what were you to Orochimaru? His 'best friend'? His 'confidant'? Maybe you were something _more_, which if discovered would be frowned upon, and your position of power in being his second-in-command was tainted..._further_! I mean, I have no problem with you being his butt buddy, but I'm sure if the public knew just _what _you had to do in order to be in such a position of power while in Sound would destroy any kind of recruitment drive needed to restore its ranks after the failed invasion," said Naruto laughing at the sight of green face from those around Kabuto and the angry snarl that came to the man's face.

"How dare you! I will not let some abomination of the Leaf like you talk that way to me!" said Kabuto narrowing his eyes at the forest while trying to find Naruto.

"You think that I care about what you call me? I've heard it all before. Monster. Demon. Kyuubi brat. I've heard 'Kill the fox!', 'Burn him!' 'Skin him!', and while that last part never happened I have had quite a few close calls. So don't think you can intimidate or anger me in order to throw my game off. Still, it would be wrong not to offer you this one chance to surrender, and come quietly. _However_, if you still prefer that I drag you back to the Leaf kicking, screaming, and without a few limbs with the risk of slowly bleeding to death...then I will _gladly_ accommodate you," said Naruto prior to leaping quickly from his spot at the tree at lightning fast speed and sliced Kidomaru in half with his HF sword before disappearing from sight by jumping back into the trees.

"Holy shit!" said Tayuya, as she saw Kidomaru fall down crying in pain while his life was now dwindling down to nothing, and would soon meet his end.

"Don't just stand there you idiots! Go get him!" said Kabuto pointing to the area where Naruto had leapt and the Sound Shinobi he came with now pursued the mercenary.

Only for the sound of a metallic blade being heard tearing through flesh, the screams of the victims of the weapon used, and the limbs that fell from the trees while raining blood. Sakon, being too scared to fight Naruto, tried to flee to the borders of Rice Country, but the blonde had thrown his HF sword at the man, and pierced his heart.

Killing him along with his brother Ukon in the process.

"Surrender or die," said Naruto again from the shadows of the forest.

"Come down here and fight us!" said Kimimaro before he coughed violently and blood fell onto his hand being coughed into.

"Why should I give up my advantage?" said Naruto seeing Tayuya backing away from the group of Sound Shinobi, but unlike Sakon, the redhead was inching towards the direction of the Leaf.

"It would appear this girl doesn't want to be killed by you," said Ocelot inside Naruto's head and the boy nodded.

"Use it to your advantage. Its clear the others aren't redeemable. You'll have to kill them with the exception of the redhead," said Frank knowing it will be the only way Tayuya was going to get back to the Leaf alive.

"Then we'll make you," said Jirobo moving to grab the HF sword and chop every tree in this damn forest in half.

Only for a pair of chakra strings to shoot out from above, wrap around the hilt, and bring it back to the hands of its Master.

"You should know better then to go for my sword. It's a rare one of a kind made weapon. For shame on you," said Naruto in an almost mocking voice, as he wiped off the blood, and quietly moved to another position in the trees.

"Don't you dare mock me! I don't care if I'm injured. I'll kill you!" said Jirobo before smashing a tree down, then another, and then another while draining what little energy he had left due to his injuries.

'What a mindless thing he is,' thought Naruto seeing Jirobo acting like a crazed animal in lashing out at everything around him.

Even Kimimaro and Kabuto.

The big guy _was _going to strike out against Tayuya, but the redhead had enough of him, and the association with the Sound in general. So used what Taijutsu skills she possessed to dodge the large man's attacks, and launched a spin kick to his face with all the strength she could put into it with the blow behind it sending him back a few feet with bruise on his face.

"Calm the fuck down and stay the Hell away from me you fat ass!" said Tayuya, but only this time, Jirobo didn't do what she yelled, and tried again to hurt her.

And succeeded by hitting her with his good arm and sent her into a tree knocking the poor girl out.

"I've wanted to do that for awhile now," said Jirobo feeling pretty good right now and had surprisingly calm down.

Before a certain HF sword pierced the man's back and went through his chest with blood shooting out like a fountain.

"Die fool," said Naruto in a whispered voice filled with a cold hatred to it before pulling out the blade with one quick yank with the man's blood covering him.

"Now its your turn," said Kimimaro creating bony ice pick shaped weapon and tried to stab Naruto with it.

Key word being tried.

Naruto was dodging the strikes aimed at body while trying to slice Kimimaro to pieces in return with the albino leaping away from the swordsman before bringing out a bo staff made from both his arms stretched out horizontally. Soon the two warriors were fighting each other in a strange, almost _artistic_ display of two warriors battling it out with the winner earning the privilege of survival, and to fight another day.

"You will pay for killing Orochimaru-sama!" said Kimimaro trying to bring his weapon down upon Naruto's head, but the blonde dodged it at the last second landed a solid slash diagonally upon the albino's back, and stained it red with blood from the wound.

"The man had no honor. Much like his sensei. All who follow him will die by my sword," said Naruto knowing his HF sword had sliced through Kimimaro's spine, and was now paralyzed from the waist down.

"No. I...cannot die this...this way. Orochimaru-sama's revenge it...it must be...completed," said Kimimaro, as he tried to get up, but his body was too weak, and given how it was weak already...it did not have the strength to get off the ground.

"And now there is just one snake left," said Naruto before a hand went through his back, out of his chest, and gasped at the pain.

"Its always the last snake that gets you boy. Not the first, not the second, or any other before the last. Just the last," said Kabuto grinning at his victory at being patient and killing the brat.

Before Naruto went "poof" right in front of him.

"I love Shadow Clones," said Naruto from behind Kabuto after slicing through the man's head.

'How? How did he get behind me like that?' " thought Kabuto for the last time in his life with his eyes now looking up at Naruto from his position before death took him.

'A kill truly worthy of recognition from late Momochi Zabuza,' thought Naruto knowing how the late Missing Nin had been a Master of the silent kill and this was one worthy of praise.

Putting his sword away, Naruto turned to the unconscious red head slumped against a tree with her back imprinted on it, and scooped the girl up into his arms bridal style moments before Neko's ANBU team arrived. They were surprised to see all, but one of the Sound Four had been killed, and the team that sprung the group free was dead too.

"What happened?" said Neko seeing blood still dropping from the trees down to where the body parts of Sound Shinobi team had been.

"I killed them all. Well, except this one. I gave them a chance to surrender and only the redhead took it. She got hit by the big guy over there for her troubles. I have a feeling she'll tell Ibiki and Anko anything they want to know from here on out," said Naruto seeing the group of ANBU nod before they escorted Naruto back to the village knowing a Chuunin and Jounin cleanup crew would come along to handle this mess.

(Konoha Hospital-Several Days Later)

Naruto smiled at seeing Hinata finally being released from the hospital after Tsunade had fixed her injuries and was now cleared for Shinobi duty once more. The girl wore her usual attire with the large jacket worn to cover up the hidden beauty Naruto knew she possessed yet hid out of reasons of shyness. Not that Naruto would blame her, as every single male pervert around their age would be staring at her now, and then later when physical maturity kicked in.

"Ready to take on the world?" said Naruto dressed in black pants, steel toed boots, and t-shirt with silver gray fox on the back with lightning flashing around it.

"Yes," said Hinata knowing Naruto was joking when he asked that question and really meant was she ready to get back to training.

"Great! I know a spot where we can train to give those muscles of yours a nice workout after being in that hospital bed for so long," said Naruto seeing the girl blush at the idea of training with her crush.

'This girl reminds me so much of Eva with her shyness. Even the determination this girl showed when she fought her cousin is just like Eva's too,' thought Big Boss watching silently to see how things went with the two.

"I heard you're a mercenary now," said Hinata while surprising herself in not stuttering when around him.

"I see word travels fast. Not surprising really. Did you also hear about my heritage being revealed too?" said Naruto smirking at the girl knowing she did and the people were not happy about the news.

Tsunade had gotten a lot of protest from the Councils, trying to deny he was the child of the Yondaime, and Uzumaki Kushina while questioning the legitimacy of the marriage. Tsunade had produced all the needed documentation, as well as well as DNA test using what was on file, and compared it to Naruto's showing that he was indeed the son of the two great Leaf Shinobi.

In all honesty, Tsunade herself was against the idea Naruto proposed in revealing his heritage to the Leaf due to Iwa still being bitter over what his Father did, and yet Naruto didn't seem to care. Naruto told her that he would tell the Tsuchikage about how the Leaf went against his Father's dying wish and treated him like garbage to make the Kage feel better to square away such ideas of revenge. What better way for Iwa to have its revenge, then knowing the Leaf did what they would desire in terms of payment for them, and call things even with the two villages?

Tsunade had to agree with that logic. Besides, it was clear from what she could squeeze out of Jiraiya about Akatsuki that Iwa's own two demon vessels were targets, and Naruto didn't want his kin to suffer anymore.

He wanted them united together with him. With a purpose far greater then protecting the very villages that hated them. The only exception among the villages was Kumo, but even then it was no doubt due to the Raikage actually caring about his younger brother, and to a slightly lesser extent Nii Yugito.

In short, Naruto was proposing an outfit designed to served the Elemental Countries as a whole, _but_ not favor any of them, and only help the side _they_ felt was right. Tsunade had been worried how the villages would react to that kind of idea, but Naruto had told her at this point in life, if change was not done, then the world would destroy itself, and no one would win in the end should that occur.

So Naruto was given a secret mission, when outside of the Leaf on missions, to find his other demon vessel kin, and ask them to join his new group called FOXHOUND. To carve out a place for themselves within the Elemental Countries, which would be named Outer Heaven in honor of Big Boss, and live up to its name sake. It was to be a place of sanctuary for people just like Naruto, his kin, and any others out there within the deep recesses of the Elemental Countries suffering from the abusive exploitations caused by the arrogant bigots in power.

Even now, Naruto could get quite a few people here in the Leaf to join, and they'd do so willingly to get away from here.

"Yes. I imagine you've gotten quite a few girls seeking to date you," said Hinata though there was a hint of depression in her voice, which Naruto picked up on, and he smirked at her.

"A few. Not many really. Besides, I don't like girls in that way if they just want me for my status when at one point, they would sooner spit on me because they thought I was a mere piece of trash, and had nothing to offer them," said Naruto, as he saw Hinata stand up straighter now at his words, and a smile with eyes filled with hope appearing on her face.

"I agree. One should not do such things simply for status," said Hinata before they had reached the training ground Naruto had brought them too.

"A girl after my own heart. But enough about me. Let's focus on you and getting those lazy muscles of yours back into shape. I'll even make a deal with you. If you can land one successful hit on my body, I'll take you out on a date, and we can get to know each other better," said Naruto getting into CQC and a severely blushing Hinata getting into Gentle Fist.

'That's what I call motivation!' thought Hinata, as she would earn that date, and show him she was not like those _other_ girls.

(Hokage's Office)

"Sit Kakashi," said Tsunade sternly seeing the Jounin do so and saw he was curious as to being summoned by her.

"Hokage-sama, why was I summoned? I need to be with Sasuke to help with his therapy, and recovery," said Kakashi seeing the Hokage narrow her eyes at him slightly.

"Yes. Sasuke. We'll get to the Uchiha later, but first I want to talk to you about certain _things_ that have come to my attention, and have been ignored by the Sandaime during his time in this office," said Tsunade seeing the Jounin's eyebrow rise up.

"What things Hokage-sama?" said Kakashi seeing the woman produce a list of things on them and handed it to the Jounin.

"Read it Kakashi and then tell me if what's on that paper is indeed accurate in terms of what you've been doing as team 7's sensei," said Tsunade knowing they were, as the other Jounin senseis had basically heard the man confess to a few of them, and didn't seem to care.

Now Kakashi was nervous.

"Well...yes, but you have to understand Hokage-sama that everything I did was given the full approval of the Sandaime, and even the Councils on some of these too," said Kakashi seeing Tsunade was getting angrier with every second he talked.

"Even though some things listed on that sheet show the betrayal of the Yondaime's dying wish, his teaching to you, and basically the overall principles of the Leaf that the village was founded on?" said Tsunade seeing Kakashi sweating now.

"Well you have to admit, given the time I had with them, Sasuke seemed to be a much better candidate for being a Shinobi then Naruto, and Sabaku no Gaara isn't someone to be trifled with," said Kakashi seeing Tsunade slam her palm down on the desk and had caused the surface of it to crack in a spider web formation.

"So is a Prodigy from the Hyuuga Clan you dumb baka! Naruto needed just as much training as Sasuke did. Maybe even more considering his education at the Academy was deliberately sabotaged! Not to mention the final report you filed about Wave Country doesn't add up to Gray Fox's accounts on the matter," said Tsunade, as she asked for Naruto to give her a detailed description of the events of Wave, and compared it to the report Kakashi had filed.

"What exactly did he say?" said Kakashi trying to keep his voice even.

"Enough that I know that a good chunk of your report is garbage. 'Sasuke shows amazing potential in protecting the bridge builder, as he was able to plan out a strategy to free me from the Water Prison Jutsu Momochi Zabuza had place me in, and showed the potential behind his birthright.' Those were your _exact_ words in the report. From what Gray Fox told me, it was _he_, and not the Uchiha responsible for setting you free," said Tsunade, as she glared heavily at Kakashi, and saw what little of his face go pale for a second before returning back to normal.

"Surely you don't believe a once Genin level Shinobi over a Jounin like myself?" said Kakashi hoping the woman would reconsider believing the blonde's recounting of such events.

"Do you think I am a fool Kakashi? I should hope not. You see, I sent a message to the client Tazuna, asking for his version of things, and he told me how reckless you were on the mission. He told me how you got caught in the Water Prison Jutsu, how Zabuza was going to complete _his_ mission, and how Gray Fox fought back in the end with the blonde gaki coming up with the plan to set you free. I asked him for every single detail Kakashi, and I know for a fact what is in your report is fake!" said Tsunade seeing the man trying to think of some way to get around this.

"The client is lying! He's only saying these things because Naruto apparently saved his family from Gato's thugs," said Kakashi only for the angry look on Tsunade's face to become almost demonic.

"They named a bridge after him you baka! Not only did Tazuna send me a word for word description of what happened with him while traveling with your team, as well as what of the fighting he saw on the bridge, but the man's daughter, and Grandson both expressed their sincerest wishes to Gray Fox for saving them from Gato's men along with inspiring them to rise up against the late businessman. Hell, it was because of Naruto that Zabuza used the last bit of his life to kill Gato, and avenge the boy Haku! Not Uchiha Sasuke!" said Tsunade seeing Kakashi was trembling slightly under her words.

"I'm standing by my report on the mission and so do the Councils. I will not change it for anyone!" said Kakashi at last seeing Tsunade's eyes narrowing dangerously.

"If that is your current standing, then I will have to seek a proper punishment for you, and the Uchiha for his actions that my predecessor left unchallenged. A punishment, which I think will involve you being _banned _from teaching Sasuke for a whole year, _and_ banning any kind of involvement in the Chuunin Exams for the next _three_ years," said Tsunade seeing Kakashi looking at her in horror.

"B-But y-you can't! I was assured by the Sandaime and the Councils that Sasuke would be allowed to advance in the ranks up to Chuunin after the Exams," said Kakashi seeing Tsunade now a heartbeat away from punching him down every floor below him down to the tower's foundation.

"That deal is nullified. I don't care what the Sandaime or the Councils promised. The boy is clearly unstable on account of his needless desire for revenge against Itachi and the fact the entire village spoils him like _he _was the Yondaime's son. Ironic that the man's actual child was neglected by you Hatake given your own connection to the Yondaime," said Tsunade seeing Kakashi narrow his eye in anger at the mentioning of Naruto.

"With all do respect Hokage-sama, I hardly believe that _boy_ is worthy of being called the Yondaime's son, and while were on the subject I am still waiting to hear any word on his punishment for nearly crippling Sasuke during the start of the allied invasion against us," said Kakashi with the memory of Sasuke getting his arm at the elbow getting cut off.

"Gray Fox is _not_ going to be punished for his actions Kakashi. Besides, even if I wanted to, the mercenary contract written up gives him full pardon of _all_ actions against the Leaf, and I will not have you making things difficult because of your deep hate filled grudge against the Kyuubi inside of him," said Tsunade seeing Kakashi's fists slightly tighten at the news.

"That boy _is _Kyuubi. I don't care if his genetics say otherwise. That thing lost the right to be sensei's son the moment Kyuubi was sealed of him and everyone in Konoha knows it," said Kakashi standing up, only for his body to go flying out of building thanks to the punch Tsunade had hit him with, and soon crashed into a rundown building that soon collapsed on itself due to the impact.

(Namikaze Estates-Personal Training Ground)

Naruto had made over a hundred Shadow Clones of himself, which he soon divided up into different group, and had them training while he himself was looking over a scroll on the Rasengan. His Father had first designed it to one day be combined with the elements themselves, which upon fully being completed would be a devastating S-rank Jutsu, and make anyone facing such power to cower in fear.

"Hey gaki! Can I sit with you?" said Jiraiya giving the boy his most charming smile.

The blonde could of sworn it made some flowers die.

"Depends. Are you actually going to spend your time here being useful? Or are you here merely to waste my time?" said Naruto not looking at Jiraiya and just kept looking at the scroll to understand the Jutsu better.

"Of course! I was doing some soul searching and it occurred to me that you should also learn how to summon Toads like your old man did. Being the holder of said contract for them, I can have you sign it, and then summon them for battle," said Jiraiya seeing the blue eye Naruto was showing looking at him now.

Wait! Wasn't the eye patch on his other eye just yesterday?

"Something you should have done from the start my so called _Godfather_," said Naruto seeing Jiraiya frown.

"I had orders from the Sandaime. Sometimes we have to do what is asked of us, even if it means going against what we want, and don't want to do," said Jiraiya seeing Naruto just scoff at him.

"Is that the best excuse you could come up with? That you were following orders? We both know that's a lie Jiraiya. You say you care about me, but at the same time you had no problem with the secret orders to seal away my power when we left to find Tsunade, and no doubt would have tried had Anko-san not been there to keep an eye on you. Do _not_ think for one second, I am going to be fooled by your so called 'hand of friendship', and just forgive you for your lack of positive involvement in my life," said Naruto, as he saw Jiraiya frown further at his words, and it was clear the Sannin didn't take too kindly to them.

"I believed and still do believe you have the potential to destroy the way of the Shinobi if the prophecy is in fact true. That means the way of life for every village, which includes Konoha, and I wasn't about to see the Leaf destroyed. The Sandaime believed you had to be contained, controlled, and I agreed that to ensure the prophecy didn't destroy the Leaf that certain _measures_ had to be taken," said Jiraiya seeing the boy narrow his eye at him.

"By measures, you mean having the villagers beat me, stab me, sell me rotten food at huge prices, and try to make me submissive to their whims along with the Hokage's false sense of protection in order to stay loyal. You'll have to forgive me if I don't thank you for those measures being implemented for my own good," said Naruto sarcastically, as he saw Jiraiya was getting angrier, and it was making the blonde's day most enjoyable.

"You still don't get it. I would have thought the Son of the Yondaime would understand what was done to him was for the good of the village?" said Jiraiya before seeing Naruto stop in his reading of the scroll in front of him, slowly closed it, and turned a cold blue eye right at the Sannin with a surge of killer intent behind it.

"What I _understand_ is you went against my Father's dying wish with your plan. What I _understand_ is you along with the Sandaime tried to control me using the little scheme concocted while I was barely a day old. What I _understand_ is you chose to lie to the one person that would have raised me in this village with love and deprived her of 12 years worth of being a Mother if only by surrogacy. My question to you Jiraiya-san, why should I spare you any kind of mercy, or even show forgiveness when you yourself do not wish to show those you hurt any in return?" said Naruto seeing Jiraiya looking away though whether it was from guilt or anger over his words the blonde could pinpoint.

"It comes with the job of being a Shinobi kid. I hurt Tsunade. I know that. Would I do it again in a heartbeat to keep the village safe? Absolutely! The wellbeing of the village comes first and if it means I have to betray my own teammate for the bigger picture in the survival of the Leaf then so be it," said Jiraiya seeing Naruto shake his head before the blonde laughed.

"That's funny. You sounded just Orochimaru right then and there," said Naruto seeing Jiraiya eyes blazing with anger.

"Don't you dare compare that man to me!" said Jiraiya standing up now and glaring at Naruto with anger no longer hiding behind his eyes.

"Why? You two so similar when comes manipulation and betrayal. Orochimaru fled because he betrayed the Leaf and the Sandaime. You betrayed my Father, Tsunade, and myself. You both use people. Aren't afraid of betraying those around you for the 'bigger picture' as you called it. Should I continue? Please do tell me because I can," said Naruto with Jiraiya going red in the face before the Sannin left to prevent a battle from possibly occurring.

"He hates being wrong," said Big Boss while inside Naruto's head.

'That _and_ the pervert _knows_ he's wrong deep down inside. The problem is Jiraiya simply won't admit it to himself because then the flood of guilt comes and his pride won't let that happen,' thought Naruto while going back to understanding the Rasengan.

(Hokage Tower-2 Weeks Later)

"You requested me for a mission?" said Naruto seeing the Hokage nod and ordered the client be sent in.

"This is Asama Sandayu, who is the Manager of the famous actress Fujikaze Yukie, and need you along with Genin teams 8 & 9 to protect her from harm while she shoots her newest movie while they head to Snow Country," said Tsunade seeing Naruto nod and accepted the mission given.

"When can I be expected to leave?" said Naruto knowing there was a matter of preparing for this mission.

"Tomorrow morning. You will travel to a ship at the eastern port of Fire Country for a ship that is being used for the movie when they are filming at sea. The others Genin teams have already been informed earlier and are getting ready right now," said Tsunade seeing Naruto nod and left without another word.

"I'll have to help you train for the snow based environment within your mindscape after you are done packing and then later when sleeping," said Frank with Ocelot nodding in agreement since they were no stranger to extremely cold places that could test even the most battle hardened soldier.

'Looking forward to it,' thought Naruto smirking at the challenge presented towards him and headed home to prepare.

"Oh Foxy-kun!" said Anko tackling him from behind and snuggling against his cheek with a grin on her face.

"Hello Anko-chan. How is everything?" said Naruto while ignoring her use of that name for him.

"Very good! That red haired girl Tayuya sang like a canary, giving us different locations, names of people she knows have were helping Orochimaru, and has been basically been giving us all the dirt we need to bury what my late bastard of a sensei created," said Anko while keeping out the little fact she along with Ibiki got a big bonus when presenting this info to the Hokage.

"And let me guess...you want to cash in that date I promised," said Naruto seeing her grin that ever happy grin like the dango shop was giving away free dango.

"Yep!" said Anko simply.

"As much as I would like to Anko-chan, you caught me at a bad time, and I have to get ready for a mission tomorrow morning. Perhaps when I get back?" said Naruto seeing the woman pout, as she clearly wanted that date, and checking his one eye to see if he was lying before nodding.

"The day you get back and not a minute later," said Anko before poking his chest, which she felt a lot of muscle, and blushed at the feel of it.

"Agreed. _After _I make an official report to the Hokage of course," said Naruto seeing Anko give him a playful frown.

"Fine! Just remember to bring a lot of cash because you're paying for it," said Anko with a devious smile on her face.

"Within reason. You pig out in an attempt to bleed me dry and we split the check," said Naruto seeing the Special Jounin snap her fingers before kissing him on the cheek.

"I like you Foxy-kun. A take no crap kind of guy while making sure the woman doesn't take too much from you. I can't wait for our date when you come back," said Anko before she went skipping along while humming a tune.

'Did any of you have women act crazy around you like that?' thought Naruto to Big Boss, Ocelot, Frank, and to a certain extent Kyuubi.

"Define crazy?/_**Define crazy?"**_ said Big Boss, Ocelot, Frank, and Kyuubi with Naruto just looking at them with a deadpanned appearance on his face.

'Never mind,' thought Naruto before heading home to prepare for his mission.

(A/N: YAY! Another update! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. As for me, I'm going to rest, and relax. Until next time...PEACE!)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-Cold Fury

Naruto stood on the large tanker class ship the Director had acquired for the trip to Snow Country, as the mercenary watched the woman he, and the other Leaf Shinobi with him were hired to protect. The woman, a one Fujikaze Yuki was currently doing a scene on the ship for the movie she was starring in, and with the decrease in temperature it was clear to Naruto they were getting closer to Snow Country.

'Did I ever tell you how I hate the freezing cold? Training or not?' thought Naruto to the others in his head.

"Several times actually. You should have seen Vulcan Raven in the Alaska wilderness. The man could walk into a blizzard with no shirt on and come back to the Shadow Moses base like it was an everyday occurrence," said Ocelot laughing at how so many troops and military personnel transferred to the base were surprised to see the man without a shirt in the freezing temperature filled land.

'No amount of training for this is going to prepare me for the cold, is it?' thought Naruto seeing Ocelot shake his head no.

"The only true training for the elements is hands on training," said Ocelot knowing that while Naruto had been trained within his mind's own environment...it would only help set the ground work for the _actual_ environment outside his head.

"You look troubled," said Shino seeing Naruto staring out at the sea with what looked like a block of ice from an iceberg off in the far distance.

"I'm always troubled when it comes to high profile missions. To not be troubled with the different variables that can spring up from such a mission means you are not doing your job. What about you? How are your bugs in the decreasing temperature? I imagine they are less then pleased?" said Naruto turning to see Shino nod.

"They are not happy, but they can endure it for now, and maybe even learn to adapt," said Shino knowing that it could beneficial to have such insects immune to the freezing cold in the long run.

"You're learning well. Insects are a lot like humans. They know what it means to survive almost any kind of environment and adapt to their surroundings. They give up a piece of themselves, but gain something new, and become stronger for it," said Naruto turning slightly to look at Shino, who nodded in agreement, and watched what he was watching.

"What do you think of Yukie-san?" said Shino seeing Naruto shrug slightly.

"I don't think about her at all. I know only what I need to know. She can act, meaning she can deceive, and its clear she is hiding something behind her façade of a tired actress. Be mindful when we get to Snow Country. Make sure the others know," said Naruto seeing Shino nod slightly.

"You suspect our enemies are waiting for us there," said Shino simply with Naruto letting a small smirk appear across his face.

"What better way to be defeated by our enemies, then on very terrain they will have the advantage in, and we do not? Our enemies are preparing for us in a place where they will know every spot we could arrive, land, and travel once entering the country. We wouldn't have been hired for this unless _there was_ someone here wanting the woman captured to be held prisoner or just killed. The advantage will not be ours should we be attacked upon our arrival," said Naruto seeing Shino nod again in agreement.

"Do you have a plan? Perhaps we can discuss it as a group later before we arrive at our destination?" said Shino seeing Naruto shake his head no.

"Sadly, I do not have a plan, and can only offer advice in how to lessen our disadvantage in this situation. When we get closer to Snow Country, have Hinata-chan use her eyes to scan for multiple chakra signatures, and if she detects any when we get closer to land," said Naruto seeing the Aburame nod and then leave to carry out his duty.

"The only thing worse in being on this ship with Lee and Gai is your depressing way of handling the situation we're in Gray Fox," said Tenten trying to stay warm while walking up behind Naruto.

"Sorry if I don't sugarcoat it more to your taste Tenten-san. I would think someone, who wishes to take the lifestyle of the Shinobi seriously would understand, and appreciate the seriousness that comes from the truth of my words," said Naruto with Tenten smiling at him.

"Of course I do you baka! Though it wouldn't kill you to smile more on this mission. Let your guard down a little while were on this ship and enjoy things around you that life has to offer," said Tenten seeing Naruto smirk again.

"Is this your way of asking me out on a date?" said Naruto seeing Tenten blush and then glare at him.

"No! Kami, if we weren't on such an important mission, I'd punch you, and throw your ass overboard into the freezing water," said Tenten before she heard him laugh and was surprised he did at her words.

"Sorry. Just picturing you trying to do that is funny to me," said Naruto seeing the anger in the girl rise and saw the signs of her about to try.

"Oh, so you don't think I can huh?" said Tenten before she threw a punch at him, which he caught, and then her leg when she tried to kick him.

"Oh I know you can try, but you won't succeed," said Naruto pushing Tenten back and saw her growl at him.

"I'm not some weak fan girl. I've trained with weapons and have a Taijutsu Master for a sensei with his clone for a teammate. Let's see if you can handle me!" said Tenten getting into her fighting stance while Naruto did the same with his own.

"We really shouldn't be doing this, given the mission we're on, and how important the client is," said Naruto before Tenten charged him while trying to keep him pinned in the narrow space on the side of the ship.

"What's wrong? Afraid a _girl_ can do what a guy can't and beat the snot out of you?" said Tenten trying to land a hit on her opponent during the taunting, but found Naruto to be very calm, and collected in his fighting.

"No. I just don't want you to be unable to fight when the time comes during the mission," said Naruto in an almost mocking voice like mannerism he learned from Ocelot.

And was rewarded with an even angrier Tenten trying to hurt him for his troubles though it was proving to be more then difficult. The young kunoichi kept trying for a good 20 long minutes before giving up, as it was clear to her that Naruto was not beatable at this point with her level of skill, and silently swore to one day reach a level where that would not happen.

"That was impressive. I hope you don't mind if we somehow tried to incorporate all those moves into the movie," said the Director having seen it before ordering one of his crew with the second camera to film the fight the merc and Leaf Shinobi just had.

"Just pay us both a reasonable fee for it and you got yourself a deal," said Naruto seeing the man nod before throwing him a large roll of money.

"Is that enough?" said the Director seeing Naruto weigh it in his hands and calculate the amount.

"Yeah. Its enough. If you need more just let me know, but remember its not cheap, and the others might not agree to it so easily like I have," said Naruto deciding to give half of this to Tenten.

"We're nearing our destination. The ship's Captain says we have an ETA of about 30-45 minutes before Snow Country is visible and another 15-20 to land there," said Asama Sandayu walking up to Naruto knowing how the merc wanted to be kept in the loop regarding the arrival into the country.

"Good. Before that happens, is there anything I should know about Snow Country? Its people? Or perhaps...the actress you didn't tell our destination to and who she really is?" said Naruto seeing the man grimace slightly.

"I guess there is no point in hiding from you or the others. Come on. Yukie will be in her room for awhile and we can talk privately with the others," said Asama seeing the actress head to her room below the ship while along with Naruto went to collect the others.

(Sometime Later)

"So she's an actual honest to goodness Princess. A daughter to a Daimyo," said Naruto seeing the man nod after everyone heard him explain everything.

"Yes. Up until now, I've had to keep Princess Koyuki hidden from her Uncle, who wishes to use her Father's special treasure to further oppress our homeland, and then start a war with the other neighboring countries. Koyuki is the rightful Heir to the throne of Snow Country, but after her Uncle killed her Father, and being the only witness to the event...it is not in the woman's heart to lead," said Asama sadly knowing the woman's Father had been a good man and was planning something to bring the Snow Country to a new age.

"Does her Uncle know, who she really is, and that she's on her way here?" said Kurenai seeing Asama shake his head no.

"I have taken steps as her Manager to keeping such a thing from happening, but Doto is resourceful, and I wouldn't put it past the man to find a way to learn of it. He's not an idiot by any means," said Asama knowing Doto would not let Koyuki go so easily.

"So what do we do?" said Kiba though it was clear he was eager to get into a fight.

"We continue with the mission. We're not in a position to say no anyway," said Naruto seeing the Leaf Shinobi around him nod.

"Thank you," said Asama smiling at the dedication this group had, and felt reassured Koyuki would be protected.

A sudden shaking of the ship brought the group of out of their musings, as they headed to the top of the ship, and saw the sudden iceberg that had risen seemingly out of nowhere. The now massive iceberg itself had a trio of individuals all wearing strange armor and wore Shinobi headbands to signify their profession in life.

"They created ice. Are they like you Haku?" said Naruto missing his dear friend and not caring that he spoke out loud.

"Welcome to Snow Country. Or rather welcome to the waters _near _Snow Country. I am Roga Nadare and the leader of this group assigned to extract Princess Koyuki from your graces," said Roga seeing the two groups of Leaf Shinobi on guard while the one with the eye patch just narrowed his blue eye at them.

'This is unexpected and unwelcome,' thought Naruto growling slightly at the trio.

"We were going to ambush you when the ship docked, but then we realized it would be so much easier on us to just crush you here at sea, and use the water to our advantage," said the pink haired woman of the group to the left of Roga.

"You are frauds," said Naruto at them with a cold icy blue becoming increasingly angry at the trio of Snow Shinobi in front of him.

"What did you say?" said the bulky male to Roga's right.

"You're Ice Jutsu. I knew someone, who could manipulate it naturally because it was a bloodline limit, and was hated for it back in Mist. _You_ are of no such bloodline. You three are doing it in an _unnatural_ way using that armor. I find it to be very upsetting, insulting, and it is dishonorable to the one person I could call a friend outside of the Leaf...if only just for the shortest of time," said Naruto the image of Haku smiling at him, using the power of that bloodline to protect was precious, and fight with everything in your very soul.

What these three were doing was a perversion of a bloodline dead with its last user being a pure soul.

And it was pissing Naruto off to no end.

"How sad for you. Let's kill them already!" said the pink haired Snow Shinobi grinning at the group.

"Agreed," said the bulky one before leaping onto the ship.

"Bring it on," said Naruto, as he drew his HF sword, and leaped off the ship high into the air down towards the trio of Snow Shinobi on the iceberg.

"Ice Style: Ice Spike Jutsu!" said Roga, as he shot a large spike of ice from the glacier, and aimed at the swordsman in midair.

Naruto angled himself while in the air to dodge the attack, if just barely, and landed on the ice spike before running down it. The bulky one of the group quickly ran up to meet Naruto halfway, but was kicked away by a living projectile named Lee, who kicked the man in the head, and gave Naruto a thumbs up motion at the same time.

Such a weird kid.

Anyway, Naruto kept running at high speed towards Roga, and the pink haired kunoichi of a Snow Shinobi tried to intercept him this time. However, a barrage of weapons from Tenten made the woman back away, and out of range of Naruto heading for Roga. As for Roga himself, he was preparing to use another Ice Jutsu, but soon felt his body's chakra level was not what very high, and realized the Aburame on the boat had secretly sent his bugs to drain him of chakra while distracted by Naruto. Cursing at this turn of events, Roga leaped away at the last moment before Naruto swung his HF sword at him, and with chakra channeled into it had sliced through a large section of the iceberg he was standing on to make it his own little ice made island.

"You underestimated us Roga-san. Now you will pay for such stupidity with the lives of your comrades...and your own life," said Naruto while angling his sword at Roga with the Snow Shinobi's partners engaged the others of Team 8 & 9.

"Clearly. I assumed the Leaf would send just one team to guard the Princess, but not two of them, and whatever the Hell you are," said Roga seeing his bulky teammate Mizore now being attacked by both Lee and Gai while Tenten along with Yuhi Kurenai were keeping the pink haired woman Kakuyoku Fubuki at bay.

"Assumptions get you killed," said Naruto before leaping onto Roga's half of the iceberg and prepared to engage the Snow Shinobi in combat.

"Not this time. Retreat!" said Roga, as he along with the other leaped away, but Mizore was too battered to escape, and was captured before being brought back to the ship where the others regrouped.

"You guys caught a big fish," said Naruto seeing the bruised man with a broken arm now tied up, and his armor looking like it had seen better days.

"Bite me freak. Once my teammates capture the Princess we'll see who is laughing," said Mizore before spitting at their feet.

"He must be mistaken. We're guarding an actress. Not a Princess," said Lee frowning while Naruto did the same.

"Not everything is what we think it is on the surface Lee. I think we need to know more and this cocky fool is going to tell us what we want to know," said Naruto picking the man up easily from his tied up position on the ground.

"Fat chance. I'll die before I talk," said Mizore before crying out in pain when Naruto struck his injured arm.

"Doesn't bother me. Now...let's have _private chat_!" said Naruto, as he dragged the man to someplace deep within the ship, and began his "information gathering" in regards to what the three Snow Shinobi were after.

It took the crews willpower not to puke over the railings while Mizore's screams echoed throughout the ship.

'It's a good thing Anko isn't here. She'd be finding a way to molest Naruto after he was done with our prisoner,' thought Kurenai, as she heard more screams of agony, and could not help in wonder just _who _had taught the boy the deadly arts I&T were known for.

"Everyone from both teams, their senseis, the client, and the actress we're hired to protect meet me in the lounge area. Immediately!" said Naruto's voice over the intercom system of the ship.

"Something big must have happened," said Tenten seeing the others nod and entered the shared lounge area that connected to the corridors leading to their rooms.

"It did. Our actress Fujikaze Yukie isn't the woman we were told she was," said Naruto his hands and feet were stained in blood.

Mizore's blood.

"What? Who is she then?" said Neji seeing the woman and her Manager looking a bit nervous.

"She's actually the daughter of the late Daimyo of Snow Country. Heir to the throne and Princess of Snow Country with her real name being Kazahana Koyuki. The one, who hired those Snow Shinobi was none other then her not so sweet Uncle Kazahana Doto, and FYI...he killed his own brother for something buried in the country itself. Buried deep within the snow," said Naruto, as he saw the woman look away from everyone, and her Manager Asama Sandayu looking guilty at keeping this from them.

"Its true I'm afraid. All of it. Ever since the assassination with Doto taking over, I've done everything in my power to keep the Princess from meeting the same end, and smuggle her out of Snow Country. It wasn't easy, but I was able to use a few of my friends, who are in the movie making industry to turn the Princess into an entirely different person, and new identity to ensure Koyuki's survival under the name of Fujikaze Yukie," said Sandayu seeing Koyuki fall down into the nearby couch.

"What was the overall plan though? Aside from her survival I mean," said Kurenai, as she saw the elderly man smile, and look out at the nearby window.

"You see, for all its cold harsh weather, was a place of technological advancement like no other within the Elemental Countries, and our beloved Daimyo only wished to expand it by finding a way to bring the season of Spring to our country. Doto wants to use what his brother was making into a weapon, but even if the man found it, in order to make the machine work, he needs something in the Princess's possession, and that the something is the key. A key the Princess has in her possession," said Sandayu, as he pointed to the pink jewel currently wrapped around Koyuki's neck, and the woman held it up in her hand.

"This?" said Koyuki, as she saw Sandayu nod, and saw Naruto eyeing the jewel too with an intense look in his one blue eye.

"It's the key to the very machine Doto wants to activate while thinking it's a weapon he can use to rule over Snow Country and possibly the world too," said Sandayu seeing the Koyuki rip off the necklace and throw it across the room with Hinata catching it before placing it in Naruto's hands.

"From what you speak of her late Father, I doubt this machine is something used for war, and more towards your belief it was used to bring Spring to this country," said Naruto before Koyuki's hollow chuckle came and turned to face her while he pocketed the pink item.

"Spring cannot be brought to this country. It's a cold, cruel place to live, and you're all about to know it first hand along with all the _suffering_ this place has to offer. Suffering you know _nothing _about!" said Koyuki glaring at them all, but was quickly ended by a backhanded strike by Naruto, who then picked the woman up by the neck, and hoisted the Princess to her feet.

"Suffering! You want to talk about suffering? My life is the definition of suffering lady. You can look the _definition_ of suffering up in a dictionary and my face is right there for all to see. I was hated, beaten, persecuted, and basically manipulated for most of my life by the very person I once looked up to like a Grandfather. Your life was _easy_ compared to mine so don't think for one moment the _suffering_ you've endured can compete with mine. Right now, there is a whole country of people waiting for you to return, and free them from their oppressor. Your Uncle. Are you going to stand up on your own two feet? Or are you going to just wallow in pity, waiting for the end while on your knees, and begging for it all to be over? As for me, I'm not much for begging, and never will no matter what happens to me. So stay here, bitch, moan, complain, and wail in despair like one of those _other_ _kinds_ of tragic Princesses. I don't care anymore. My only objective from here on out is killing that bastard of an Uncle of yours and any who would follow him," said Naruto throwing the shocked woman down on the couch before walking out of the room with Hinata chasing after him.

"Gray Fox-kun wait!" said Hinata, as she saw him stop walking down the corridor, and look back at her before she caught up.

"Sorry you had to see that Hinata-chan. Its just...that's the second person I've met, who claims to have suffered, and created their own pity party. I'm tired of such parties. What she needs is a good kick in the ass for a wake up to reality!" said Naruto banging his fist against the wall of the ship and the dent to it being visible.

"Its okay. I know your life has been hard Gray Fox, as I have seen it with my own eyes, and you are right about Princess Koyuki needing to wake up to reality," said Hinata, as she saw him smirk, and turned to face her fully now.

"With you to help me should I get out of line I take it?" said Naruto seeing her smile and nod in agreement since he did go overboard on some things.

"Of course. After all you have done for me, it is the least I could do, and will do should you require my help," said Hinata, as she had come along way since her spar with Naruto, and then later learning to control her timid nature when around him.

"Thank you Hinata-chan. Now, let's go help the ship's Captain on the bridge, and redirect our landing zone into Snow Country," said Naruto seeing Hinata nod knowing her eyes would help in scouting for the Snow Shinobi they encountered earlier.

(In Snow Country)

"You failed me? How could you fail Roga? I received advanced warning from a reliable source telling me the where, when, and how my niece would arrive. I had you strike _first_ knowing you had the element of surprise and _yet_ you _still _failed me. Explain!" said Doto seeing Roga and his teammate tremble in fear.

"We did have the element of surprise, but we were unable to secure the Princess because the number of Leaf Shinobi guarding her, and then there was this one Shinobi among them who was completely different. I've never seen anything like him," said Roga seeing the man on his throne scowling at him and knew Doto didn't like excuses.

The man didn't like anything.

"I don't care if one of the tailed beasts came at you. I expect you to do your job no matter what. Now I have to take matters into my own hands. Go back out there and find them Roga. Bring back the Princess or you will _wish_ a tailed beast was here," said Doto seeing the two Snow Shinobi bow and then leave.

When the two Shinobi left, Doto himself scowled further, as he was not pleased by this situation, and hated how the assured victory he believed was within his grasp was being taken away before taking it. He had been warned by an anonymous source, who had not given him a face, but Doto knew the person was from within the Leaf stating the Princess was going to be on the ship to head home, and that for some backing in the future would they provide assistance in capturing Koyuki. Doto was given day, time, and who would be on the ship protecting his niece while escorting her to Snow Country so the advantage was in his favor.

So why had his forces been defeated by such a meager force? The opposition was a group of Leaf Shinobi, but Roga hadn't expressed fear in them, and more along the lines that of a single figure among them. Someone from the Leaf, but different all the same, and had the skills needed to stop Doto from achieving his ambition. Of course, Doto knew the source of his info wasn't doing this, as he knew how Shinobi took missions to protect clients while sometimes taking secret orders from the opposition to slay, or capture the one they're protecting for more money.

It wasn't personal. It was just good business.

Still, Doto wasn't the ruler of this country by simply letting things go to chance, and only did when he knew the fix was in his own favor.

Doto's thoughts on the matter shifted however, when a bird flew suddenly into the room, and dropped a message onto his table before flying away out the window. Opening it up, the man read the message carefully before his eyes narrowed, and crushed the paper up in his hands at the information written on the parchment by his mysterious benefactor.

Throwing the paper down onto his desk, Doto summoned his loyal forces, as he had preparations to make, and deal with the information written on the paper.

(With Naruto-A Few Days Later)

"Damn its cold here," said Naruto realizing it was even colder when they landed then when sailing here on the ship.

"Can't argue with you there," said Kurenai, as she looked at the surrounding area they landed in, and like him hated the feel of the bitter cold nipping at her skin like it was his own regardless of the heavy clothing they wore to combat it.

"What do you see Neji?" said Tenten seeing him scanning the area with the Byakugan.

"Mostly snow, trees, and mountains with little else in sight," said Neji with Hinata also confirming what he saw with her own eyes.

"The capital of Snow Country is much farther then before due to our change in course, but this leads us to the secret resistance group that's been building against Doto, and we can meet up with them before heading there," said Sandayu pointing to the destination they were heading.

"Good. With their help we can map out some kind of terrain we can cross," said Naruto seeing the man nod knowing the resistance had such information since they knew more about the area then most.

"This way," said Sandayu with Naruto, team 8, team 9, their senseis, Koyuki, and the film crew followed him to their destination.

Only to find the camp where the anti-Doto forces had been slaughtered not that long ago.

"Oh man!" said Kiba seeing the destruction of the camp and the bodies lying around while Hinata focused on not fainting at the sight of so much death.

Not that anyone would blame her if she did.

"How could this have happened?" said Sandayu seeing the entire division he had been able to bring together now crushed like an insect.

"This happened not that long ago. The smoke is still rising from the ashes. Very recent by the looks of it. I'd say this occurred...roughly yesterday morning when everyone here was asleep," said Naruto looking around before kneeling and examining a pile of smoking ash he was rubbing against his armored fingertips.

"How? How did Doto know about this place. No one knew where they would be, except myself, and not even the Snow Shinobi from before could have taken them all out," said Sandayu knowing that without the army they were back to square one.

"Doto must have had help. Someone from behind the scenes, who told him of this area, and was given something in return," said Gai seeing the destruction of the area around him with disgust.

"But what?" said Sandayu not understanding the situation fully.

"A favor in return most likely. Future support for services rendered. Power of some kind. Take your pick," said Naruto feeling his right hand twitch for his sword.

"You're feeling it too," said Tenten, as she felt her hand twitching for her weapons, and get ready for a fight.

"Yeah. What did this either hasn't left yet or those Snow Shinobi are back," said Naruto looking around for the foe hiding in the snowy terrain.

"Or both," said Lee knowing that was another possibility

"That too. Stay defensive and protect the Princess," said Naruto hearing a rumbling sound of something coming towards them and could hear the gasp from the three legendary soldiers inside his head.

"No. It couldn't be!" said Big Boss, as he hoped that such a monster would stay buried in the past, and not rise up to ruin this world again.

But it was.

"What is that?" said Koyuki seeing the monstrous metal thing before them looking almost alive.

"Metal Gear. A war machine from the ancient world," said Naruto drawing his HF sword while Ocelot told him it was the Gecko model of Metal Gear, but clearly saw that this one was modified to fire arrows, and stabbing projectiles using the lack of sophisticated form of technology this world possessed.

"How do you even know what that is Gray Fox-san?" said Tenten seeing the walking two legged behemoth headed their way.

"Because I have inside information. Scatter!" said Naruto leaping away, as the Metal Gear launched projectiles at him, and the others with the Genin teams moving to save the movie crew.

Gai quickly grabbed Koyuki, as Kurenai grabbing Sandayu, and got them to safety away from the monstrosity that was the Gecko. Naruto quickly defected several projectiles with his HF sword before several more popped up around him looking at the young mercenary with their tri-red eyes and focusing entirely on his form.

Why? Naruto had _no _idea!

"We have to help him!" said Hinata seeing Naruto dodging and slicing through the legs or "hip" region of the Metal Gears while trying not to get hit.

"We can't. Whatever these things are can only be stopped by Gray Fox," said Kurenai seeing her student wanting to rush in and had to grab the girl by the shoulder to prevent it.

"But...!" said Hinata seeing Kurenai shake her head no.

"Your sensei is right. Our mission is to protect the Princess from harm. Gray Fox is doing his part and we will do the same," said Gai seeing the others nod in agreement.

"It doesn't matter what you do. You're still doomed!" said Roga, as he leaped from his position on the cliff behind them, and moved to snatch the Princess.

Only to be blocked by both Hinata and Neji.

Roga's pink haired teammate Kakuyoku Fubuki tried to flank them, but Gai along with Lee leap kicked her into the cliff, and caused snow to avalanche onto her body. Roga encased the two Hyuuga in an ice dome before rushing to grab the Princess and ran off with his prize.

"Damn it!" said Naruto, as he finished off the last crude Metal Gear Gecko knockoff, and rushed after Roga.

"Gray Fox wait! Tenten. Shino. Go after him," said Kurenai seeing the two nod while Kiba and Akamaru were digging a whole under the ice dome to get the two Hyuuga out of it.

"We have the Snow Shinobi here contained," said Lee having removed the kunoichi from the snow and tied up while giving his good guy pose.

'I need a vacation,' thought Kurenai, as she wanted one so badly right now, and wondered if it would be cruel to temporarily hand over her team to Anko.

Possibly. Maybe. Yeah it would. Damn!

(With Naruto)

"Hey! Come back here you bastard!" said Naruto seeing the man heading higher up in the terrain where the clouds above were thick.

Thick enough to hide something.

"Sticks and stone my boy. Sticks and stones," said Roga mockingly, as he leaped into the air, and grabbed a feeble ladder that connected up into the clouds where an airship was waiting him.

"Not bad. Looks like there are some things in this new world that are marginally better then ours," said Ocelot seeing Big Boss agree.

"Not bad," said Big Boss clearly impressed.

'Gush over it later. I have a Princess to save. Man I feel like I'm in one of those cheesy romance novels when the 'Noble Knight' saves the Princess and they fall in love at the end,' thought Naruto climbing the ladder after jumping up to grab it with a little help in using Shadow Clones.

Leaving Tenten and Shino on the ground.

"Damn it! When he gets back down here, I'm so kicking his ass, and make him beg for mercy!" said Tenten with righteous fury in her eyes with Shino raising an eyebrow at her.

Was it him or was Tenten's anger a way to mask her worry for Gray Fox?

Climbing all the way up the ladder, Naruto headed towards the bridge knowing that was where someone like Doto, and the Princess would be since it was a position of power when it came to ships like these. Making his way through the corridors, the Namikaze heard echoed voices coming from across the way, and recognized the female voice to be Koyuki's.

They were arguing.

"How could you Uncle? Your own brother? My Father! All for what? Answer me!" said Koyuki angrily, as Naruto saw through a small opening of the door to the bridge with Roga holding the woman back.

"Power. Its always been about power. Your _weak_ Father spent so much time focusing on helping his country, he didn't realize that the lost advanced technology our country has could allow us to rule the world, or expand our domain even further. I decided to do what he didn't have the courage to do and use this country's power as it was intended for. You already saw the lost machines of war I recovered and modified to wipe out the resistance forces. Once I'm done activating your Father's machine, I'll have the power to make many more like them, and crush any opposition that stands in my way," said Doto seeing the horror filled look on her face and smiled at the sight of it.

"You bastard! How did you even know about the location of the encampment? No one knew about it except Sandayu and I know he would _never _betray them to you," said Koyuki struggling some more.

"Some outside help ironically from the Leaf told me. I don't know who exactly, but I know they didn't want this mission to succeed, or you to live past today for that matter," said Doto seeing his niece glaring at him.

"You lie!" said Koyuki seeing Doto smirking at her.

"Why would I do that my foolish niece? Though given your life growing up after your Father's death since becoming an actress I'm not really surprised. You've lived in such a pampered lifestyle of hotels, celebrities, and influential people responsible for financing your movies. Never knowing of the true darkness, pain, and horror the world outside of yours truly entails outside of losing your Father when you were just a child. Shinobi are trained to lie, deceive, and betray even their own clients if another comes along with a lot more money to do the opposite of the current mission," said Doto grinning at the Princess glaring further with denial still in her eyes.

"Which is why a mercenary was hired into the fold," said Naruto kicking down the door and turning the heads of the people in the room to look at him.

"You!" said Roga seeing the grinning face of Naruto looking at them.

"It feels so good to be acknowledged," said Naruto walking into the room while his eye behind the patch did its thing.

"I see you're the one Roga fears," said Doto not seeing why and yet felt this boy was indeed strong.

"As you should too. I've come for your heads," said Naruto drawing his HF sword and looked ready to charge forward.

"Try anything and she dies," said Doto pointing to his niece.

"You kill your own niece? Your blood?" said Naruto seeing Doto grin.

"Of course. It was so easy to kill my brother. Killing her would be no less difficult," said Doto seeing Naruto lower his weapon.

"Now what," said Naruto seeing Doto grin.

"Drop your weapon," said Doto simply.

"Let her go," said Naruto looking at Koyuki with calculating eyes.

"You know I can't do that," said Doto still smirking.

"You could actually, but its not in your nature to give into others, and the fact you're just a teme doesn't help you either," said Naruto before throwing his HF sword at Doto, who knocked it away behind Roga, and scowled at him.

"Stupid fool! Kill Koyuki!" said Doto, but saw the HF sword he knocked away was really the boy in a henge, and the one throwing him was really a Shadow Clone with the real one bouncing off the glass window before kicking Roga in the head with enough force to snap the man's neck.

And freeing Koyuki in the process.

"Still think you can win?" said Naruto drawing his HF sword for real this time and saw the man was furious with him to no end.

"I will not be stopped. Not by you, my niece, or the Leaf. I will rule this world or burn all that I cannot have to the very ground!" said Doto before removing his robes to reveal his chakra armor.

"Has anyone ever told you that your actions are the sign of a sore loser?" said Naruto in a mocking tone, as he saw Doto's face go into a rage filled look that spoke of him being psychotic, and was currently aimed at the young mercenary.

"Die!" said Doto, as he launched a gauntlet hand at Naruto, who just dodged, and let the heavily armored appendage hit the control in the bridge to shock the man with a strong amount of electricity.

"I don't take request from weaklings like you. I just kill them," said Naruto stabbing the man in the back and channeled Kyuubi's chakra into it to make sure the pain was much more then it would be without it.

"NOOOOO!" yelled Doto, as he felt his life being literally being burned away, and could have sword he saw the Devil grinning at the soul about to be received into Hell.

With the burned corpse of Doto now on the ground, Naruto focused on the control system meant to keep the airship _in _the air, and realized this thing was tilting now with the view of very large mountains coming their way. Realizing they had little time to get out of the airship before the got blown to Hell, Naruto put away his sword, and quickly grabbed the still downed Princess before carrying her bridal style to the nearest exist.

"Would this be a bad time to ask if you're afraid of heights and falling from them?" said Naruto seeing Koyuki look down over the railing and then back at him with a glare.

"No! No! Don't you da-AAAAARE!" said Koyuki, as she screamed the rest of the way when Naruto jumped off the airship, and a couple hundred Shadow Clones behind him made a living rope to stop them from falling harshly on the cold snowy ground below before they stopped falling halfway down.

"Gotcha!" said Naruto grinning at a frightened Koyuki, who growled at him, and was less then an inch from his face.

"If we weren't still so high up, I'd punch you in the face, and kick you between the legs!" said Koyuki seeing Naruto raise an eyebrow at her.

"Well then you're _really_ going to hate this next part of our descent to the ground," said Naruto before his Shadow Clones went "poof" and they continued falling with Koyuki screaming in fear.

Before Naruto flipped back and landed on his feet with a loud thud that made a large crater on the ground with Koyuki completely unharmed. Putting the shaking woman on her feet, Naruto fell on his butt, and let the pain he felt in his legs slowly leave him before getting off the ground again.

Only to be slapped in the face by Koyuki.

"Baka! You could have gotten us both killed. Do you think you're some kind of Immortal or something?" said Koyuki seeing her slap didn't have any real effect on him like she thought it would.

"Immortal? No. I just don't fear death. Something, I think your Father, and I both had in common with each other," said Naruto grinning at her, as she stiffened at his comment before turning to see the rest of the group plus prisoner appear up on the hill, and were happy to see they survived.

"You guys all right?" said Kurenai seeing the two looked okay aside from the snow that got on them.

"More or less. It is a good thing you're here since the fireworks are about to start," said Naruto pointing to the airship angling towards the mountains before it crashed and then exploded in great ball of fire.

"What happened to Doto?" said Gai not seeing him around the area.

"Went down with his ship," said Naruto simply with the group nodding.

"Doesn't sound like the guy," said Kiba scratching his head with a frown.

"That's because I made him after turning his body into a corpse," said Naruto with a look at Kiba while the Inuzuka finally understood what he was referring to.

"So the threat to Princess Koyuki is over?" said Lee while he and Gai held onto their pink haired Snow Shinobi of a prisoner.

"Yeah. For the moment anyway. Question now is...will _this one_ be a problem for us and the Princess?" said Naruto pointing to defeated form of Kakuyoku Fubuki seeing her head bowed in submission with her chakra armor too damaged to use.

"I'm not a threat anymore. Doto was my employer. With him dead, I have no reason to fight you, or kill the Princess," said Fubuki looking up at the eye patch wearing boy.

"And what reason do you have that would make us believe those words?" said Naruto seeing the beaten pink haired woman again lower her head in submission.

"I can offer you nothing to prove my words are true except my honor as a Shinobi of Snow Country. Please...show mercy," said Fubuki with her head still down.

'What do you think?' thought Naruto wanting the opinion of the four being in his head.

"Give her a second chance," said Frank simply.

"I agree. Another chance," said Big Boss before he looked at Ocelot.

"Might as well. Just remember though, if she tries anything, then you can killer her, and be done with it," said Ocelot knowing if this woman would forfeit her second chance if she tried anything.

_**"I say kill the bitch, but that's me, and I my hatred for women with pink hair,"**_ said Kyuubi since it didn't like the Sakura girl back in the village and the pink hair reminded the fox of the girl.

'Okay. That's three 'spare her life' and one biased 'smear her blood all over the snow' to ensure the elimination of the threat,' thought Naruto before drawing his HF sword and saw the woman shiver in fear.

'He's going to kill me. I know it,' thought Fubuki with her eyes closed to wait for the end.

When the sound of the blade descending upon her was heard, Fubuki cringed when she felt the wind of the HF sword, and waited for the pain before death could claim her. For a second, she thought he had cut through her head, and was mere seconds from truly dying. However, Fubuki opened her eyes the moment the bindings that made her their prisoner fell to the ground, and she saw Naruto put away his weapon.

"I show trust Snow Shinobi. A rarity in itself if you ask anyone from the Leaf. Do not make me regret showing such a thing or I will make you beg for my mercy. Mercy I do not give out a second time," said Naruto before walking away from her before motioning for Koyuki to follow him.

"Where are we going?" said Koyuki while seeing Naruto walking up a clear path near the mountain.

"Simple. We're going to activate your Father's machine," said Naruto still walking up without slowing down.

"W-What? But my Uncle wanted to use that machine as a weapon!" said Koyuki before seeing Naruto stop and turn slightly to face her.

"Do you honestly believe your Father would make a massive machine for war and leave you the key to its activation?" said Naruto before continuing his walk towards the device he saw while hanging on by a thread of Shadow Clones.

"No. I suppose not," said Koyuki before catching up with him and taking off the jeweled necklace that she knew was the key to activating the machine.

"Besides, your Father wanted to bring the season of Spring to Snow Country, and as well all know the season of Spring is a season where life is created. _That_ is what this machine is Princess," said Naruto, as he took held out his hand, and Koyuki put the key in it before putting the key in the machine to start it up.

And within moment brought the season of Spring to Snow Country.

"Its been a long time since I've seen something as beautiful as this sight before me. It makes you remember your humanity after being on the battlefield for so long," said Big Boss with the others agreeing.

_**"Yes. The season of Spring soothes even my demonic heart,"**_ said Kyuubi, as even the fox loved the season, and what it held.

(Snow Country Capital-A Few Days Later)

Celebrations were in order at the coronation of the new Daimyo of Snow Country, now renamed Spring Country, and the guests of honor were the female Daimyo's escort from the Leaf. Each were given a medal to show proof of their valor and courage in fighting to protect Koyuki from the Snow Shinobi that threatened her life. Fubuki was appointed the Daimyo's personal Shinobi bodyguard while Sandayu continued to be Koyuki's Manager for movies and her Chief Royal Advisor on matters of the people.

Of course that wasn't the only thing that happened, which Naruto found out, as the actress had been chosen for the part in Jiraiya's Icha Icha Paradise Movie, and only agreed to do it on _one_ condition. That _Naruto_ himself agreed be the leading male role in the movie, as the "manly stud" (Jiraiya's words in the script) of a male lead, who would be "intimate" (Naruto's interpretation) with the Princess, and eventually marry her before living happily ever after for all time.

A cheesy ending to be sure, but that was to be expected from a write of smut, and his way of acquiring inspiration for such things leaving much to be desired.

The question for Naruto now was...would he be a part of the movie?

First, he needed the opinion of those Naruto trusted, and asked his four guests in his head.

The results were less then encouraging.

"I never did it. Didn't want people thinking I was joke," said Big Boss knowing he had been offered at one point to play in action movies and _pretend_ to be what he was rather then be what he was.

"Me neither. Then again, I was always meant to keep a low profile, and covert status a very guarded secret," said Ocelot knowing that he and Big Boss had the faces for films.

They just didn't like the idea of doing it.

"Its your life Naruto. These two take their soldier status more seriously, but times are not the same like they were with us, and I don't think anyone will think less of you for being in this...film," said Frank knowing that while an offer was never presented to him for the _obvious reasons_, it should mean Naruto couldn't try it out, and see for himself.

'And you Kyuubi?' thought Naruto seeing the fox grinning.

_**"Is the woman going to play the actual part where you and her get it on?"**_ said Kyuubi curiously while leaning closer to its cage.

"Yes," said Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

_**"Then there's your answer,"**_ said Kyuubi laughing at Naruto's scowling expression.

'YOUR NOT HELPING!' thought Naruto before letting out a sigh knowing this could kill any kind of relationship with women back in the Leaf since there were a select _few_ back in the village that were worthy of his attention.

"Look kid. What you do in life, is entirely up to you, and neither of us will think any less of you for doing this film. And we _certainly_ won't hold it against you if your decision about this movie is to not do it," said Big Boss with Kyuubi snorting.

_**"I will,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing Naruto glaring back.

"Well...Kyuubi will, but the fox doesn't count," said Big Boss with a smirk.

_**"Hey!" **_said Kyuubi getting a bit peeved at that remark.

"The question for you now Naruto, is what _you_ want, and if _you_ will ever regret doing it?" said Big Boss seeing Naruto close his eyes in thought for a moment before opening them.

'I think I know what to do,' thought Naruto before his mental form faded from their sight.

_**"He going to do it,"**_ said Kyuubi in an all knowing manner while grinning a grin, which was a mix between an evil, and perverted grin.

"Quiet you!" said Ocelot feeling that making such a movie was not the way to go.

"Let the fox be Ocelot. This might actually help Naruto get more clients when it comes to being a mercenary. Plus, if this movies does well, he'll get a lot more income, and support himself with such financial backing," said Frank while Ocelot just scoffed at the idea.

"We'll see. Though I doubt anyone will take him seriously after making this _movie_!" said Ocelot before turning to see Big Boss smirking at the two.

"That all depends on how good he is in the movie," said Big Boss with Kyuubi letting out a demonic chuckle.

_**"And **__**that**__** is where **__**I**__** come into play in teaching the kit. You taught him your ways of being a solider. **__**I**__** will teach him how to be an expert lover,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing the three figures in front of its demonic form raise an eyebrow.

"How?" said Big Boss curiously.

_**"Before being sealed up for the last couple hundred years into three members of the Uzumaki Clan, even before Uchiha Madara used his damned Sharingan to make me bow to his whims, I was quite the...**__**man**__** for a vixen to have for such things, and no one here has the years of experience that I do when it comes to bringing untold pleasure to the female form. By the time I'm done teaching the kit, the Princess will be begging for more from him, and then some,"**_ said Kyuubi letting out a demonic laugh that echoed throughout Naruto's mind.

Oh yes. Life would be getting more interesting for Naruto soon enough.

(Omake-Premier of the Icha Icha Paradise Movie)

"I can't believe you dragged me here for this Jiraiya. This movie better have more then just smut in it or I'm ending your perverse ways before the credits finish," said Tsunade, who was with Shizune, Kurenai, Neko, her ANBU, Gai, Kakashi, and the other Rookies with their senseis in the audience filled with people.

Mostly perverts.

"Don't worry Tsunade-hime. You have my word it will be magical," said Jiraiya, who was currently sweating inwardly since he didn't _tell_ Tsunade about Naruto being the male lead, and currently trying to get out of his restraints in his seat so he couldn't grope the woman during the film's debut.

"Where's Gray Fox?" said Kurenai looking around for the mercenary and noticed Hinata was missing.

Anko too.

"Princess Koyuki has a private booth above us. Anko is Naruto's date, Tayuya is with them since she needs to be watched, and Hinata was allowed to join them because she was on the mission," said Tsunade seeing the room darken and the movie about to play.

"That and being a Hyuuga doesn't hurt," said Jiraiya knowing the girl's clan status also helped.

"That too," said Tsunade sensing Jiraiya was hiding something from her and was more interested in fleeing then groping.

Deciding to figure that out later, the female Hokage focused on the movie, and soon into the smutty film knew _why_ Jiraiya wanted to flee. Her killer intent spiked for a second, but was silenced by witnessing the perverted smut her Godson was starring in with the now Daimyo of Spring Country, and watched the movie from beginning to end down to every last detail burned into her mind.

When the line of credits began rolling, showing Naruto's codename across from his lead role's name, the lights slowly turned on, and Jiraiya saw the well beyond angry look on Tsunade's face. Struggling more then ever, Jiraiya quickly tried to think of something that would calm the raging beast rising from her seat, and the Genjutsu Mistress joining in the need to unleash female fury upon his restrained body for the perverse vision of a smutty book turned movie he had created.

"Anything to say to me before you die a slow painful death?" said Tsunade cracking her knuckles and preparing to unleash untold amounts of pain.

"Uh...uh...where's Shizune?" said Jiraiya looking behind Tsunade to see the Hokage's own assistant was not with them.

"Don't expect me to fall for that baka. She's right...hey where is Shizune?" said Tsunade while looking around for the woman, only to find she wasn't there along with Tenten, Ino, and Neko.

They soon heard the moaning of pleasure echoing from a private booth above them.

Spring Daimyo Koyuki's private booth to be exact.

"Oh Gray Fox, your tongue is doing wonders on my pussy, and your hands know how to pleasure my tits," said the voice of Shizune making Tsunade's eyes now bulge out of their sockets.

"Yes! Yes! Keep thrusting Fox-kun. Harder!" said Hinata, which made Kurenai's face go pale, and faint knowing she had failed to protect the Hyuuga Heiress from the wickedness of perverts.

"Yeah! Stick me! Give it all you got Foxy-kun! Yeah! I'm your snake bitch," said Anko's voice echoing from the booth loud and proud.

"Could this get any worse?" said Tsunade rubbing her temples at the swelling headache.

"Where's my sister? And my Mom?" said Kiba realizing they weren't there either.

The twin sounds of howling in pleasure from the booth gave Kiba his answer, which followed by the _"thump!"_ sound he made when fainting, and finally the nightmare the Inuzuka had of the female members of his clan being banged by Naruto.

"Does that answer your question?" said Jiraiya though he soon regretted it when his voice got the attention of the Hokage now even further upset at what his actions caused.

_**"DIE YOU PERVERT!"**_ said Tsunade in a demonic voice, as she unleashed her fury on a poor, defenseless, and tied up Jiraiya with the sounds of his screams of pain making the cries of pleasure from the women in the private booth above.

"Lucky bastard," said Shino before leaving to get a refill on his popcorn and drink.

(End Omake)

(A/N: YAY! I've updated again. Hope you liked it and the omake. It just seemed like the right thing to do for the chapter like this. Until next time...PEACE!)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-Dead Root

"Metal Gear? What is that?" said Tsunade reading over Naruto's report and comparing it to the others from the team that assisted Princess Koyuki's return to her country.

"It's a weapon that back in its day was considered the most valuable military weapon on the whole planet. Picture the Bijuu, if not Jinchuriki, but in a mass produced form, and causing destruction to the enemy by decimating them wit minimal damage to the overall troops to your own army," said Naruto seeing Tsunade's eyes widen in shock at this news.

"From your report, the entire rebel army was wiped out by just two of these things, and even then you make them sound like they paled in comparison to their predecessors," said Tsunade, as she saw her Godson sigh, and nod his head.

"The ones I fought _were _shadows of their predecessors. My three senseis have seen what Metal Gears can do. Two were around for the birth of the very _first_ Metal Gear. Doto found the more advanced models, which were badly damaged, and patched them up with the technology his country is known for. Though even the tech in his possession was not enough to properly restore them to their true potential," said Naruto seeing Tsunade's eyes once again widen at this news.

"I don't understand Naruto. You state this lost technology used in warfare is from a time long before the Elemental Countries were even made and before even chakra itself was introduced. How do you have three senseis that know what no one else does Naruto?" said Tsunade seeing Naruto sigh and didn't complain that she didn't use his Code Name.

"Its complicated and I don't think you'd believe me," said Naruto seeing Tsunade raise an eyebrow at him.

"Try me," said Tsunade seeing the blonde think for a second before nodding.

"Okay. Just don't freak out," said Naruto before making three Shadow Clones that upon being born had instantly turned into his three senseis in front of the Hokage.

"It's a pleasure to meet you in person Hokage-sama," said Big Boss with both Ocelot and Frank Jaeger nodding.

"And you are?" said Tsunade seeing the apparent leader of the three standing before her.

"I go by many names. You can call me John, Jack, or one of my Code Names I used back when I was alive," said Big Boss seeing the woman raise her eyebrow.

"Such as?" said Tsunade waiting to hear them.

"Snake or Big Boss. Your choice," said Big Boss simply.

"Big Boss?" said Tsunade with a raised eyebrow at the second Code Name.

Snake for a Code Name, she could understand, but _Big Boss_? Talk about a big ego!

"Before your time and no I didn't choose it," said Big Boss with a smirk while trying to keep his eye on her face and not her chest.

He _still _couldn't believe those things were real.

"And these two?" said Tsunade pointing Ocelot and Frank.

"I am Shalashaka. Also called...Revolver Ocelot!" said Ocelot, as he did his signature salute of sorts, and with a grin on his face that told Tsunade this man could give Ibiki pointers in his work.

"I am Frank Jaeger. Once called Null. Once called Gray Fox," said Frank simply in a calm voice though his eyes were almost void of life.

"You're using his Code Name," said Tsunade looking at Naruto with the boy nodding.

"It kind of felt right given my status in being the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki," said Naruto with a smirk on his face.

"True," said Tsunade since it seemed to fit Naruto.

"Naruto is also going to one day inherit my title of Big Boss. Just as I did from my own predecessor years ago," said John seeing Tsunade raise an eyebrow at him in surprise.

"And how are you going to do that?" said Tsunade curiously.

"Top secret information. You don't need to know. Not yet anyway," said Big Boss simply while Tsunade just growled.

'We'll see about that!' thought Tsunade since she suspected that Naruto would have to do something dangerous to earn the title.

"In any case, we saw what Naruto did when fighting those Metal Gears, and were very fortunate to find the base of operations Doto used to repair them. We also found several kinds of blueprints he had in the works to make more of them, but Naruto destroyed the base along with every scrap of paper holding detailed information about those weapons. Some things are best left buried or forgotten," said Big Boss with Tsunade nodding since there were some things best left buried in the past to never resurface.

"There is also the matter of how Doto knew we were coming? He knew the ship, landing area, and the very _day_ we were expected to arrive in Snow Country," said Naruto, as he knew the source of such information was back here in the Leaf, and someone in Konoha had sold him out.

"Someone from the Leaf informed him of your arrival. The question now is...who?" said Tsunade knowing there were a handful of people with access to the information regarding this mission.

"I know who. But to flush him out, you need to bait him, and I have the perfect trap for you," said Ocelot grinning with a plan forming in his mind.

"How do you know who it is?" said Tsunade seeing Ocelot just smirk with his arms now crossed in front of him.

"Just trust me on this. Summon the Councils and Clan Heads for a meeting. Tell them its about Gray Fox and him being badly injured," said Ocelot seeing Tsunade narrowing her eyes at him.

"But he's _not_," said Tsunade before the smirk on Ocelot grew.

"But your traitor doesn't know that. Lay it on real thick. Make it sound like our student here is in no real condition to do missions for awhile due to suffering from both physical and emotional trauma," said Ocelot seeing Tsunade lean back in her chair thinking about this plan.

"The backstabber will visit Naruto and basically confess to the boy how he orchestrated everything," said Big Boss seeing Tsunade rub her chin and agreed to it.

"Okay, but don't get your hopes up. If the traitor is, who I think you think it is, then he'll no doubt suspect something is up," said Tsunade seeing them nod.

"It's a risk that comes from doing covert missions. Something we know how to do," said Big Boss knowing this had to be done or else more missions Naruto took in the future would become compromised.

They had to nip this in the bud _now_!

(Hokage Tower-Meeting Room-Sometime Later)

"What is the reason behind this meeting Hokage-sama?" said Hiashi having important business with his own clan that couldn't wait for long.

"I've summoned you here to this meeting regarding our mercenary hire we all know as Gray Fox, who just came back from his mission with Genin teams 8, and 9 with their senseis in escorting the client to Snow Country," said Tsunade while making her voice sound grim to get everyone to focus on what she had to say.

"Did something go wrong? My son reported to me the mission was a success?" said Shibi with a frown on his face.

"It was a success, but Gray Fox has just been recently admitted to the hospital due to physical, and mental trauma I learned he suffered while disposing the last of enemy that they faced in Snow Country," said Tsunade seeing everyone look at her with surprise.

"Why didn't Kiba tell me this? I'll have his ass for not telling me!" said Tsume growled knowing Naruto had been good for her son to learn humility during the Chuunin Exam Prelims. and now Kiba was keeping this info from her.

"They didn't know Tsume-san. Gray Fox was keeping it under control until he got back so it wouldn't spook the others. Right now, he's in the hospital resting, and is not cleared for duty until I say so," said Tsunade seeing Danzo's eye narrow slightly.

"And what is it that caused this to happen Hokage-sama?" said Danzo not really buying this story, but went to humor the woman nonetheless, and test the waters of information.

"As some of you know, Naruto along with the others encountered an old lost weapon of war warlord of Snow Country named Kazahana Doto was intent on rebuilding to one day wage war on the Elemental Countries. Gray Fox found the factories Doto had setup to one day make more like the ones he found and other various models before he blew them up. However, the fact such weapons were being made has effected Gray Fox immensely, and I fear his mental state is on a knife's edge bordering on the psychotic. He's the only one with the knowledge regarding these war machines and feels if such creations were ever to fall into the wrong hands it would be disastrous. I intend for Inoichi here to enter Gray Fox's mind to remove all memories regarding those horrible war machines," said Tsunade seeing several people on the Councils protest this decision.

"Why do that? With such weaponry in our hands, we could protect Konoha from Iwa, and Kumo should they wish to invade," said a member of the Civilian Council.

"Why use such weaponry for protection? Its clear these weapons are made to invade other countries. I say Inoichi extracts the information from the demon brat and we use it to expand our territory," said Danzo with the Shinobi Council agreeing with him.

"Enough! These things will cause an escalation of arms that no one is ready to handle. If we made these things, chances are Kumo, or Iwa may find a way to do so too. Pretty soon every hidden village will build one and cause untold damage to lands of the Elemental Countries. I won't do that and Gray Fox won't either since its clear his belief about this technology being too dangerous to use being correct. This meeting is over!" said Tsunade leaving the room while seeing Danzo's eye narrow slightly in anger and frustration.

'I must get that information out of the brat!' thought Danzo knowing he would have to move quickly or else the information would be lost forever.

Inwardly, Tsunade smile knowing she had the bait on the hook, and all she needed now was for the fish to go for it.

At Konoha's hospital, Naruto was lying on his back, looking sound asleep with a white bed sheet covered most of his form, and waited patiently for the plan to come to fruition. However, the young mercenary's waiting paid off, as sure enough the traitor to Konoha appeared through his door, the sound of his cane clacking on the floor with every other step he took, and Naruto could almost feel the joy this man was hiding.

"How the mighty have fallen. The mighty Kyuubi now at my mercy," said Danzo seeing Naruto open his eye lazily before staring back at him.

"How many times do I have to tell people like you that I'm not the Kyuubi? We're not the same thing and you know it," said Naruto calmly though still sounded sleepy to Danzo.

"You can spin it however you wish demon. I know the truth. Nothing you can say to the contrary will ever change my mind. I have wanted your power under my command since you were first sealed inside the boy's body and even before that with that red haired bitch from Whirlpool the Yondaime married years ago. Now I find out that you discovered an old, yet powerful technological weapon on your mission that could further tip the balance of power in the village's favor, and if acquired could make us more powerful. However, instead of helping make this weapon apart of the Leaf to make the village stronger, you want it to be destroyed, and I can't allow that to happen," said Danzo with his face now a scowl while looking at Naruto.

"You make it sound like I'll just give you the blueprints from what I remembered seeing in the factory areas Doto had in Snow Country. Factories and blueprints that I _destroyed_ by the way," said Naruto calmly while seeing Danzo now smirk at him.

"There are..._ways_ around that particular problem. Your mind possesses the knowledge I need to make the Leaf stronger and I have a Yamanaka under my command to help get what I want," said Danzo seeing Naruto raise an eyebrow at him.

"How do you even know about Snow Country? I have a feeling you know more then whatever meeting you just came from with the Hokage," said Naruto with a narrowed eye at Danzo's own.

"How perceptive of you. I am allowed access to mission reports thanks to my elite rank within Konoha's government and information very few know about," said Danzo seeing Naruto's eye narrow for a second and then widen in slight realization.

"It was you. You tipped the Snow Shinobi off about Princess Yuki. You told them where, when, and what to expect upon our arrival," said Naruto with his eye now narrowing in anger at the man in front of him.

"Indeed. I wanted you to fail. I wanted the Hokage's trust in you to be shaken. With the teams with you dead, your mission a failure, and being the only survivor it was going to be so easy for me to have your credibility shattered. Your remaining friends would even abandon or keep an eye on you. They would question whether or not you had a hand in their death and the failure of the mission. The seeds of doubt would take root and your contract with the Hokage would be cancelled. With your support in the village ruined, I could easy have my Root forces swoop in, and take you back to my underground bases where you'd be properly conditioned to be my personal weapon. Of course that plan has not changed since your current weakened condition makes this all the more easier for me to bend you to my will," said Danzo with a sense of arrogance in his voice.

"I doubt it. I won't be fooled twice by some Sandaime Hokage carbon copy. I won't serve someone like you," said Naruto seeing Danzo look a bit angry at his choice of words before removing the bandage over his eye to reveal...a _Sharingan_?

"That's where you're wrong. With this eye, courtesy of the unwilling Uchiha Clan, you will bow to my will, and help me usurp that Senju bitch of a Hokage so I can take my rightful place on the seat of power," said Danzo while using the Sharingan Eye on the boy to plant the strong hypnotic suggestion for the Kyuubi Jinchuriki to serve him loyally without question.

"Is that what I am Danzo-teme? A Senju bitch! Perhaps you'd like to add more words to the list of things you think I am before I kick your ass?" said Tsunade appearing with Shizune behind Danzo, who turned his head to basically show the woman his Sharingan Eye.

"You're too late _Hokage-sama_! Now the demon works for me. Get up Kyuubi and kill the Senju," said Danzo before turning to see Naruto rise up from the bed and stand ready to fight.

"You're under arrest Danzo. Even now your Root forces are being subdued and will be questioned by Ibiki once your seal under their tongues are removed," said Tsunade seeing Danzo scowl at her and turned to once again command Naruto to attack.

Only for Naruto to thrust his HF sword right through his skull underneath the jaw line.

"H-Ho-w?" said Danzo with what little of his brain still working.

"Isn't it obvious Danzo-teme? I'm immune to your pathetic Sharingan Eye thanks to my own Dojutsu. You should never tip your hand early in a card game. You're only going to lose because of it," said Naruto pulling his weapon out of Danzo before slicing the man's head clean off his body.

"We'll there goes the point of a trial," said Tsunade seeing the man was now dead.

"He has allies. No one in his position, no matter how good Danzo may think he is, could last as long unless he had allies to back him up, and provide support when required. I'd do some digging into the Shinobi Council since they seem to favor him quite a bit from what I understand of the politics you're now going through," said Naruto seeing Tsunade nod her head in agreement.

"Not to mention some of the members of clans like the Yamanaka Clan for one if what I overheard was any indication," said Tsunade with Naruto nodding in agreement back.

"Good. Now if we're done, I have to get ready for a date with Anko, and I don't think the woman can keep her sanity in the event its stalled one more time," said Naruto seeing the female Hokage smirk while Shizune looked worried given Anko's reputation.

"Just make sure you don't knock her up on your first date gaki. The last thing I need right now is you making me Godmother to _another _Uzumaki just like you," said Tsunade with Naruto just smirking back.

"And give you more gray hairs sooner then later? Not a chance. I don't think that Jutsu you use to hide your age could handle another Uzumaki like me. A _Namikaze_ on the other hand...?" said Naruto leaping out the window while ignoring Tsunade's words for him to come back and take his lumps for that remark.

"You did ask for that one Tsunade-sama," said Shizune knowing the female Hokage had walked right into it after trying to embarrass the boy.

"Shut it!" said Tsunade glaring at her student and aid.

(Konoha Streets-Sometime Later)

At the moment, Naruto was currently looking for Anko, but found the Special Jounin was unreachable at the moment because no one knew where she was, and he found it a bit odd since normally the woman wasn't hard to even find. He was about to check Anko's place of residence when his internal danger sense went off and ducked into an alley before he was tackled by someone pinning him to a wall with a kunai to his throat.

"I was waiting for you Foxy-kun. I _hate _waiting," said Anko whispering into Naruto's neck.

"I was looking, but I couldn't find you Anko-chan, and was just going to check your place of residence so we could go on our date," said Naruto feeling Anko pressing more of herself against him.

"I'm sure. You owe me dango for being late. _Lots _of dango," said Anko once more into his ear.

"Anko-chan, what time did we agree to meet each other?" said Naruto narrowing his eye at her with the woman humming slightly.

"We didn't Foxy-kun. We just when you got away from your last mission," said Anko while her mind daydreamed about all the dango she was going to feast on.

"If there was no time set, then how can I be late, and punished for it?" said Naruto with the woman pausing in her thoughts before she realized he was right!

And her dream sooner shattered after that.

"Damn! I forgotten just how smart you've become since I saw you before the second part of the Chuunin Exams started," said Anko seeing Naruto glare slightly.

"Please! You've seen me after that farce of a life I've lived. Now do you want this date or not?" said Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh! A man of _action_! I like that. Come on. I may not get all the dango I want from you for being late, but I'm still going to get some, and you're paying," said Anko leading him to her favorite place to eat.

"There's a limit!" said Naruto trying to keep up with her dragging him to the sanctuary of her favorite food.

So with several hours passing, a happily stomach satisfied Anko left with Naruto, who was glad he had paid for the bill owed using the money "borrowed" from Jiraiya, and covered everything. Naruto inwardly thought the Sannin was an hypocritical idiot, but was strong enough to hold back Konoha's enemies, and for now was a necessary pain in the ass to have around the Leaf.

Besides...pilfering the Toad Sannin's money was fun!

"Wow! I'm so stuffed," said Anko rubbing her slightly bulging stomach knowing it was aching from being filled with dango.

"I'm sure. So what else do you want to do?" said Naruto seeing some surprise on Anko's face.

"You still want to continue the date? Even after basically being a pig, being rude, and all around jerk during our time talking?" said Anko with a raised eyebrow.

That was another thing that happened when Anko was with Naruto, as she had been her usual rude, in your face, and scary self the whole time. In a nutshell, Anko had been a real bitch, and had tried to at certain points make Naruto end the date early. It was how she had made men flee in the past soon after all the dates first started and _yet_ this kid a few years her junior wanted to _keep going_! It was unheard of! Unthinkable!

"We both know that was not your true self. I want to date the _real_ Mitarashi Anko. The one behind the mask used to fool people into believing you're something I know is just a form of deception," said Naruto seeing Anko stiffen slightly.

"So...you know?" said Anko simply while seeing Naruto smirk at her.

"You can't trick a trickster Anko-chan. I can see through your act of happiness you put up because I had to do the same for everyone around me. You smile when I should cry. You smile when I should show anger. And you smile when you want to scream out in defiance against the very assholes that make your whole life miserable. I've been there and done that," said Naruto simply.

"Start over?" said Anko hopefully.

"Start over. Follow me Anko-chan. We can go for a walk in the park and talk like normal people," said Naruto taking her hand and giving the back of it a gentle kiss that made Anko blush.

"Where did he learn that I wonder?" said Ocelot inside Naruto's head while Big Boss just smirked.

"I may have...given him a few pointers," said Big Boss since he and Eva had their own special connection that he wanted Naruto to have with the women in his life.

_**"Not all of them,"**_ said Kyuubi knowing something about romance in making the female gender swoon when needed.

(Anko's Apartment-Sometime Later)

Anko closed the door to her apartment, her heart spinning, feeling dizzy, and felt like she was walking on air. Why? Because for the first time in her life, Mitarashi Anko was truly happy, and didn't have to hide behind the "I'm a sadistic bitch" mask she created to scare away all the assholes wanting to tear apart her ass. In more ways then one! Some guys tried to have a date with Anko just to get between her legs and then brag about it. Not that they ever did. She saw through their intentions right away, hence why Anko acted the way she did with Naruto from the start on their date to turn the boy off, and say "Its not worth it" to himself.

But Naruto endured. He saw through her mask. Saw the _real_ Anko. Wanted to know the real Anko. They had walked to the park, talked, laughed, and had a really good time. The hobbies they both had, their likes, dislikes, and their shared hatred for the morons trying to make their lives miserable.

They hit it off nicely.

"I think I'm in love," said Anko before hitting the bed with a smile on her face.

(With Naruto)

Naruto smiled, as he found someone like him, who he could relate to, and really bond with outside of working for the Leaf while being a mercenary. Anko had it all in his mind. Beauty, brains, and the invisible brass balls between her legs needed to kick ass when it was required.

"Enjoying your time with that slut?" said Sasuke appearing to Naruto side with his arm in a sling and glaring at the mercenary.

"First, I do enjoy my time with Anko-chan. Second, she's not a slut. Third, call her that again, and I'll cut off both your arms before burning them so you'll be crippled for life," said Naruto glaring at Sasuke with his narrowed blue eye.

"Whatever loser. We both know she spreads her legs for every guy in Konoha that wants a lay. That's what women are. Stress relief for the real Shinobi of Konoha. Women in the Leaf and the world are nothing more then slaves meant to breed us into existence. They're purpose is to cook, clean, and make male Shinobi babies while the females follow in their parent's footsteps," said Sasuke smirking at Naruto.

"So what does that make your Mother? A slut? A whore?" said Naruto seeing Sasuke's smirk turn into a furious scowl.

"You leave my Mother out of this!" said Sasuke seeing Naruto smirk now.

"Why? You said it yourself. Women spread their legs for men. Your Mother clearly did for the other members of your clan. Makes you wonder just _who_ your Father was, doesn't it? Maybe that's why your so called _Father_ didn't pay any real attention to you. Maybe he thought you weren't really his son because of your slut for a Mother," said Naruto while not really believing it for a second since he knew the woman had been good to him in the past, but knew it would help anger Sasuke, and that's what he wanted.

"My Mother is different! She was an Uchiha!" said Sasuke seeing Naruto frown at him.

"You can't exclude your Mother from your line of thinking when it comes to women just because she was an Uchiha asshole! Not that it matters. Women aren't the things you make them out to be in the first place and I never believed that. If this is how you view women, then its clear you don't deserve to be with one, and have kids that will no doubt act like you too," said Naruto seeing Sasuke becoming infuriated by his words.

"I'll fuck whoever I want regardless if they consent to it or not. I'll even fuck that snake slut in there to rebuild my clan and I'll get away with it because I'm an Uch-AAH!" said Sasuke, as he was stuck hard in the stomach by Naruto's fist, and then his with a spinning elbow to the back of the Uchiha's skull.

"Let's get one thing straight you sick fuck! The day Anko sleeps with you willingly, is the day Hell freezes over, and should you even have the _nerve_ in raping the woman I will cut your nuts off before force feeding them down your fucking throat!" said Naruto before putting his foot down on Sasuke's chest.

"You can't protect her from me. The CRA allows me to choose whoever I want to revive my clan. She'll be mine by the end of the week!" said Sasuke with a grin on his face, but it was removed when Naruto drew his HF sword, and put it to the Uchiha's face.

"Then maybe I should end you or remove your nuts right now. Also, if you read the fine print on the CRA, you would know it has to be with a woman, who _willingly_ wants to be with you, and have your kids. You so much as rape a woman under the CRA and you're up shit creek without a paddle little man. You'll be 'milked' by a machine for your sperm, then they'll cut off your nuts, and then just to teach someone like you a lesson...you'll be thrown into a sector of the prison filled with sexually depraved _men_ that would love to take out their depravity on 'fresh meat' that comes their way for the rest of your natural life!" said Naruto glaring hatefully at the boy.

"The people won't let the Hokage do that. She has to bend to the will of the people and the people love me no matter what I do," said Sasuke seeing Naruto raise an eyebrow at him.

"Not for long. Besides, you aren't the only Uchiha left, and Itachi can always be granted a full pardon in exchange for his help in rebuilding what he almost destroyed," said Naruto seeing Sasuke glaring at him.

"The Hokage would never do that!" said Sasuke before feeling more pressure on his chest from Naruto's foot.

"Are you sure? For all your supposed greatness Sasuke, the only thing _great _about you is your bloodline, and even then I question your ability for how fertile you are down there. Without your bloodline, much less your clan status, you'd be nothing, and everyone in the village would just act like you were just an ordinary Shinobi," said Naruto before walking away.

"But I do have a bloodline. I do have clan status...and the people love me for it!" said Sasuke getting off the ground.

"Not everyone in the village loves you Sasuke. Not everyone," said Naruto before fading into the shadows.

(Namikaze Estates-Hours Later)

When Naruto came home, he was surprised to see the red haired girl Tayuya there, sitting on the couch, and had a blush on her face that could match the hair on her head. Raising an eyebrow at the girl, she stood up, and quietly handed a scroll to the Namikaze Heir.

_Hey gaki, the redhead here Tayuya, is yours from now on, as she invoked an old law used by interrogated prisoners of a village to avoid being sent to prison by being a person's personal slave, and asked for you. While I oppose this decision on a personal level, this girl was unyielding about it, and in a way I know you'll treat her right regardless of her new status. Not that I would blame the girl given her connection to Orochimaru and how the prison would react to having one of his bodyguards there. I highly doubt she'd make it through the week there before something happened. You are in a way her only chance at having a moderately normal life under your protection._

_Please treat her right Naruto. Just as you want to be treated._

_-Tsunade_

"Well...this is uh...interesting," said Naruto seeing Tayuya with his one eye and saw what she was wearing was a single gray gown worn by people stripped of their clothing before being searched for weapons prior to interrogation.

Something Anko had told him during their date when the topic came up.

"I'm yours to command...Gray Fox-sama," said Tayuya obediently, as she was under the impression that his real name was a sensitive topic, and decided to use his Codename for now until granted permission.

"Naruto will do. I'm surprised you're being so calm and polite Tayuya-san," said Naruto seeing the girl blush slightly while he looked her over.

"It was the Curse Seal. That Toad Sannin put a seal on it so I wouldn't use or rely on it. Still, it feels..._nice_ not swearing so much, and I could get use to it...Naruto-sama!" said Tayuya saying his name at the last moment after nearly forgetting to address him by it.

"Me too. A beautiful girl shouldn't swear anyway," said Naruto with the girl blushing further.

"Um...Naruto, there is the matter of clothing for me to wear, it was not addressed by the Leaf in the I&T Department," said Tayuya knowing that her clothing had been basically destroyed and was probably lucky to be given _this much_ in terms of a attire.

"Yes. Yes there is. Uh...are you wearing _anything_ underneath that?" said Naruto with a raised eyebrow while Tayuya blushed even more.

"W-Why do you ask Naruto-sama?" said Tayuya nervously since she knew there were possible reasons for him asking.

"Well...when you sleep in your own bed, I wasn't sure if you were going to sleep in that, or without it so...," said Naruto trying to not to make himself out to be perverted while the Kyuubi seemed to enjoy it.

Damn demonic fox!

"M-My own bed? You're not going to have me join you in...well _yours_, Naruto-sama?" sad Tayuya, as she knew that some slaves had been tasked with "warming" their Master's bed, and other things that were perverted in nature.

"I'm not a pervert Tayuya-chan," said Naruto with a smirk.

"I-I know Naruto-sama, I didn't imply you were. Please don't punish me!" said Tayuya, as she feared upsetting her new Master, and suffer painful humiliation at his hands.

"Punish you? Why would I do that?" said Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Its just...when you said you weren't a pervert, I felt like I had just somehow insulted you Master, and had opened myself up to be punished for it," said Tayuya with a hint of hope in her voice that she wouldn't be punished.

"I've been called if not accused of being worse and by people who meant it. I'll show you the other bedrooms. You choose which one you want Tayuya-chan," said Naruto giving her a smile much to the redheads confusion.

"You're giving me a choice Master? But...I'm a slave. _Your_ slave!" said Tayuya frowning since she had always been told during her training.

"True, but it doesn't mean I have to deprive your life of _everything_, and be some pervert that would humiliate you just for the fun of it. Its not my style," said Naruto showing her the extra bedrooms on the second floor of the Namikaze Estates.

"What will I do while here Naruto-sama? As your new slave I need to have _some _kind of purpose," said Tayuya seeing Naruto think for a second in deep thought over the matter.

"Well...there will be times when I have to leave for a mission outside of the village and I won't be able to keep this place clean. That being said, I think your job while living here will be the maid of the house, and making sure its clean. When there are no chores to do Tayuya-chan, you will also be training to defend this house, and I will spar with you on occasion to ensure you don't slack off. Do you understand?" said Naruto seeing Tayuya nod in understanding.

"I understand Naruto-sama. Thank you," said Tayuya bowing slightly.

"Good to hear. Tomorrow, we'll shop for some clothing, and then some other necessities you may need. Sleep well Tayuya-chan," said Naruto nodding and headed for his own bedroom for some rest.

"Sleep well...Naruto-sama," said Tayuya, as she chose her room, and went to bed after removing the grayish prison gown so she was just in her undergarments.

(Hokage Tower-The Next Day)

"What is the meaning of this Tsunade?" said Koharu, as she was restrained by a pair of ANBU in the room, and her former teammate Homura less then a foot away in a similar state.

"I'm going to get straight to the point. Danzo is dead. His Root Shinobi are being rounded up as we speak. Several of them have already confessed that they saw you two speak to Danzo on certain secret matters on more then one occasion. Matters like the Uchiha Clan and the _rebellion _they were going to cause had it not been for Uchiha Itachi killing them all on orders from on high. Even worse, you decide to cover it up, and call it a horrible massacre to give the people of the village to spoil Uchiha Sasuke. Something that made the little prick arrogant and quite full of himself since it first happened! Even if the brat learned the truth, it would only damage his psyche further, and possibly turn him against Konoha," said Tsunade seeing the two old farts glaring at her.

"It was necessary to keep the Uchiha happy! Sharingan Eyes have the power to restrain demonic chakra and thus would be crucial in keeping the demon brat in check," said an angry Homura trying to get free.

"You spoiled the child of traitors, who would betray you all for more power if it meant leaving the village, and selling this place out to our enemies. Bakas!" said Tsunade before she backhanded them both.

Hard!

"Uchiha Sasuke is the future of the Leaf. He is going to be your successor!" said Homura only to be backhanded again by Tsunade.

"Over my dead body. Uchiha Sasuke is _never _going to be Hokage of this village! As for you two bakas, Inoichi is going to dive into both of your heads, and dig up every dirty little secret you've ever done before facing execution! Take them away!" said Tsunade seeing the two old morons go pale knowing they had their hands in quite a few dirty deeds that would be more then enough to have them killed.

"Well that went well," said Jiraiya sitting on the open window and saw Tsunade glare at him for obvious reasons.

"Don't start with me Jiraiya! I took apart Danzo's body and found out Orochimaru helped experiment on his body using my Grandfather's blood mixed with Sharingan Eyes all _surgically_ attached. Not only that, but I know for a _fact_, you never had Naruto learn how to summon Toads, and I suspect you're stalling!" said Tsunade seeing Jiraiya grimace while cursing the gaki for no doubt telling her somehow.

Maybe it was because they weren't mentioned in the last mission the boy went on?

"The boy hates my guts Tsunade-hime! If I so much as turn my face slightly or speak in a tone off key the brat would run me through with his damn sword," said Jiraiya before he was grabbed by the throat and pinned to the wall.

"I don't care if he would run his sword up your ass! You will give him the summoning scroll for the Toads or I'll beat you within an inch of your life again before giving it to him myself!" said Tsunade glaring at the man while tightening her grip on his throat.

"Well...when you put it like _that_...how could I refuse?" said Jiraiya with a weak smile on his face.

"Good. Delay this one more day and you will _wish_ it was just Gamabunta kicking your ass instead of both of us!" said Tsunade before throwing him out of the window into the village.

(With Naruto and Tayuya)

"You don't have to buy me so much Naruto-sama. This is too much!" said Tayuya, as she saw over half a dozen clones carrying multiple bags, and the redhead herself was now currently wearing more descent clothing then the prison rag she had worn the previous day.

"Nonsense. To provide you with too little is cruel and I am not cruel Master," said Naruto smiling at Tayuya, who blushed at his kindness since she had known very little of it, and her new Master was basically unleashing more then she ever had in her entire life.

"Naruto-baka!" said Sakura making herself known to Naruto from behind them and the Namikaze sighed before motioning the clones to head home with Tayuya's bags.

"Go with them Tayuya-chan," said Naruto seeing Tayuya look uncertain at first because she didn't want to leave her Master, but he had given an order, and had to obey him.

"Yes Naruto-sama," said Tayuya before pecking him right on the cheek and following the clones with some of them snickering while Naruto himself gave them a glare to shut them up.

"What is it Sakura?" said Naruto turning to face the pink haired girl.

"Explain to me right now what the Hokage's doing? She's liquidating the Councils! She's basically fired my dad. We're losing everything due to the Hokage's order to investigate our financials and frozen our accounts until further notice!" said Sakura, as she had woke up this morning with her parents, and met an ANBU Captain handing them official orders from the Hokage about what was about to happen.

"Simple. The Councils have been found guilty of charges of treason against the Hokage, as they have been usurping her rule, and breaking countless village laws while using their positions of power to cover it up. Your family included. They have drained funds from the treasury for their special projects that will not benefit anyone, except in their wallets, and have put the village in great danger. While I care little for the majority of the village itself given my past with it, I do care for the minority that are not idiots, and are worth saving," said Naruto, as he had plans for that minority, and would see they had a place to call their own where they could be accepted.

"My parents are innocent! You go to the Hokage right now and make her fix this or I will...," said Sakura, but was shut up by Naruto's killer intent, and he walked up to her until his face was inches from the girl's own.

"You'll do what? Hit me? Insult me further? You're pathetic! _Weak_! You're as strong as a new born kitten. You think your life is bad now? It's _paradise_ to my childhood. Now shut your damn mouth before I do it by breaking your jaw in different places so Tsunade has to wire it shut!" said Naruto before kneeing the girl in the gut and walked off.

He had more pressing matters to attend to.

Like setting his plan for Outer Heaven in motion.

"Time to drop off some old fashion mail," said Big Boss seeing Naruto pull out different letters addressed to different individuals scattered throughout the Elemental Countries.

"The one real thing in the world that hasn't changed since our deaths," said Ocelot with a smirk on his face while remembering how technology had advanced so much in terms of communicating with people.

"Better that it's the mail system that survives then that of guns or the Atomic Bomb," said Frank Jaeger with Big Boss and Ocelot agreeing to that statement.

Well...Ocelot agreed about the bomb part. Not the guns part.

(Taki Village-Several Days Later)

Fu hated her life. Why? Because the people in Taki made it that way! They hated her for being the seven-tailed Jinchuriki. Something she didn't ask for. Didn't want to be, yet Fu was stuck with it, and had to keep her mind sharp. Early on in life, Fu learned the hard way that people will seem nice, but had the power to trick, and deceive you if the signs of it were not known. Which was why Fu immediately became suspicious of the letter the Chuunin ranked Taki Shinobi had handed to her and carefully checked for any kind of explosive or toxic air releasing seal before opening it.

_Dear Fu of Taki,_

_My name is Gray Fox. I am a mercenary currently employed by the Leaf. I know you are hated in your village. I know the people there would sooner celebrate the day of your death then mourn it. I am offering you a way out by joining me along with those like you to my sanctuary for abused people like us. Yes I said us. I am like you Fu. I am the nine-tailed Jinchuriki and like you I too was hated by my village. The only reason I serve them now is a means to an end for fulfilling a vision where people abused for what we are can be free from it._

_I look forward to having you join my Outer Heaven when it becomes reality._

_Sincerely,_

_Gray Fox of the Leaf_

'Should I trust him? Is this a trick?' thought Fu, as she would have to do some discreet research on Gray Fox to see if some of the information in the letter was true.

(Iwa-At the Moment)

Iwa's own Jinchuriki Han and Roshi were in their apartment complex that they shared eating a meal they had acquired through the means of hunting since none of the shops in Iwa's market would sell them much. Only on the orders of the Tsuchikage himself could the two get anything and even then what they took was watched by several ANBU.

"We should leave Iwa soon Han. This place won't miss us and we need to go someplace where we can master our demonic powers," said Roshi while eating his meal while Han just nodded.

"Unfortunately, there is no safe place for people like us Roshi. Even if we did leave, Iwa would never let us join another village, and hunt us down to make sure we never did," said Han knowing the Tsuchikage had made sure they were always on a tight leash and that to simply breathe the air around them for free was mercy enough.

There was a knock at the door, which Han had decided to answer since his tall presence always prevented the Shinobi on the other side from making snide remarks, and just do their job. Case in point when the Chuunin on the other side, newly minted Chuunin from the look of fear in the man's eyes had just handed Han the letter, and quickly left without a word.

"What is it?" said Roshi seeing Han frown at the letter in his hand.

"It's a letter. Its addressed to the two of us," said Han before opening it carefully when he didn't sense any kind of seal on the envelope that would cause it to explode.

_Dear Han and Roshi of Iwa,_

_My name is Gray Fox. For reason of security, I cannot go into much about myself, as Iwa is not so kind when it pertains to your mail, and had to take measures to ensure this letter reached you. Before this reached you, I put a Genjutsu on it to make it seem like your usual hate mail from the villagers so the Tsuchikage would let it reach you, and be read by either one of my fellow Jinchuriki. That's right. I am one of you. My fellow kin, who know of the burden I share, and understand what it means to be hated by the fools of our village. Its unfair! Its unjust. It needs to stop. We are the pointy tip of the sword of our village and yet they treat us like we're lower then the crap that comes out of a horse._

_Recently, I've been able to place myself into a position where I can change the status quo not just for myself, but for all of my fellow Jinchuriki, and offer them a place of refuge from the abuse of the world. To grow, flourish, and live the life we should have from the start. I offer you both a chance to leave Iwa and join me in the creation of the dream that is Outer Heaven._

_I look forward to hearing from you my brothers._

_Sincerely,_

_Gray Fox of the Leaf_

_P.S. I don't know if you have any hatred for the Leaf after what happened in the last war, but know I don't when it comes to Iwa, and wish us to start with a clean slate on all sides._

"What do you think? Is this for real?" said Roshi reading the letter himself and looking at Han reading the newest Bingo Book acquired just yesterday.

"Maybe. Read this page," said Han handing the book to Roshi and the bearded man saw it before his eyes widened.

Name: Gray Fox. A.K.A. Uzumaki Naruto. A.K.A. Namikaze Naruto

Status: Mercenary. Currently employed to the Leaf under contract.

Parents: Father is Namikaze Minato. A.K.A. "Yellow Flash of Konoha" and Yondaime Hokage of the Leaf. Mother is Uzumaki Kushina of Whirlpool.

Rank: Unknown. Never specified. Suspected to be at least A-ranked.

Known senseis: Hatake Kakashi.

Known Kills: Sound Four. Yakushi Kabuto. Orochimaru of the Sannin. Kazahana Doto of Snow Country.

Side Notes: The boy is the Kyuubi Jinchuriki yet doesn't use its power in battle. Either he doesn't know how to use its demonic chakra or doesn't rely on it for fighting. Is rumored to possess an optical bloodline behind one of his eyes. Unknown if its one or both due to the eye patch covering the eye is never consistent. Also wears some kind of metallic suit never before seen and suspected to be some kind of bloodline after rumors speak of it retracting into his skin. Approach with extreme caution.

Next to the description of Gray Fox was a picture of the boy with his sword out, wearing a trench coat, and in his metallic sneak suit with the eye patch on the left eye.

"He's the son of the Yondaime!" said Roshi in surprise.

"Yes. And yet he's a Jinchuriki like us. Something must have happened to make the boy be a mercenary rather then a full fledged Shinobi of the Leaf," said Han seeing Roshi nod in agreement.

"Abused? Like us?" said Roshi with Han nodding.

"It makes sense. The way he describes himself in the letter. The way he talks about _us_ in the letter. It all fits. The boy's list of kills may not be many, but each one of them were considered powerful, and skilled in their own right," said Han while looking at Iwa from the window and deep in thought.

"You're considering his offer, aren't you?" said Roshi seeing Han look back at him.

"And you're not?" said Han seeing Roshi sigh and run a hand through his red hair.

"I would be lying if I said I like it here. I _hate it_ here. Still...the offer to live in a place where hatred for what we are does not exist...I would think it was gift given from Kami himself," said Roshi before looking at the letter again.

"With a name like Outer Heaven...it just might be," said Han while seriously considering the offer now with Roshi doing the same.

(Kumo-At the Moment)

"Killer Bee is in the house! Mail call for the cat that's shy like a mouse," said Killer Bee while handing a letter to the blonde female Jinchuriki holding the two-tailed Nibi.

"Baka! I'm not shy and I'm not a mouse!" said Yugito grabbing the letter and opened it after kicking Killer Bee out of her home.

_Dear Nii Yugito of Kumo,_

_My name is Gray Fox. I am a mercenary currently employed by the Leaf. I know you are not hated in your village, but at the same time are not loved by them either, and have had to face your fair share of abuse. I know some of the people there would sooner celebrate the day of your death then mourn it. The same can be said for myself. However, I intend to change that and offering you a way out by joining me along with those like you to my sanctuary. A place for abused people like us. Yes I said us. I am like you Nii Yugito. I am the nine-tailed Jinchuriki and like you I too was hated by my village. The only reason I serve them now is a means to an end for fulfilling a vision where people abused for what we are can be free from it. I know the Raikage's younger brother is a Jinchuriki too, but I know blood is thicker then water, and he may not wish to join us. That's his choice. It will always be a choice for him just like it is for you._

_I await your response and hope to meet you one day in the forging of Outer Heaven._

_Sincerely,_

_Gray Fox of the Leaf_

'What do you think Nibi? Is it genuine?' thought Yugito while looking at the letter again.

_**"Hard to say. It is something to look into," **_said Nibi while looking at the letter through Yugito's eyes.

'I'll look into this guy and see if he checks out,' thought Yugito knowing there were ways to gather information regarding the person behind this offer.

Naruto inwardly swore at his failure to reach two Jinchuriki, and bring them into the fold of his dream. The Mizukage of Mist, who was also a Jinchuriki by the name of Yagura had been slain earlier this Month, and was replaced by a woman with red hair named Terumi Mei. She was currently busy fixing what was broken within the Mist village and to say it was just a mess was an understatement.

The other Jinchuriki of Mist had gone rogue before that and was in hiding to the point where Naruto doubted even Jiraiya's spy network could find the man. There was even the question of whether the man was even alive or captured by the Akatsuki before having his demon extracted!

'Two of my kin are lost for the moment. One dead and the other missing. Possibly dead or soon will be. Kyuubi, what happens to the tailed-beasts when a Jinchuriki dies?' thought Naruto to the Kyuubi with the demon looking at him in his mind.

_**"My fellow tailed-beasts do not manifest themselves for a few years after the life of their vessel is extinguished. In three years time, the three-tails will return, and rule to seas once more,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing Naruto nod in thought.

'Is the three-tails hostile in general? Or will he speak to those that show civility?' thought Naruto seeing the fox raise an eyebrow at him.

_**"He has a short temper, but the three-tails will speak to those that only wish to talk, and not fight him just for power. Why?"**_ said Kyuubi seeing the boy smile at him.

'Outer Heaven will be a large island while still being close to the mainland. However, it could use a guardian to protect it from the sea itself, and I think the three-tailed demon would fit that job description nicely,' thought Naruto seeing Kyuubi was shocked by this news.

_**"The three-tails likes being free. All of us like being free, but him most of all due to the water being its home, and asked to serve another,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing Naruto nod.

'I won't ask the three-tails to do something it doesn't want to. I'll simply offer him the job and if he says no...then that will be that,' thought Naruto seeing Kyuubi was shocked.

_**"That's it? You won't fight him over it? If the three-tails says no, you'll simply leave him alone, and never bring it up again?"**_ said Kyuubi wondering if his vessel had gone mad.

'There's no point in forcing the idea on someone, who doesn't want the job Kyuubi, and if I did I'd just become a hypocrite for my troubles. Its about choice. Its _always_ been about choice,' thought Naruto seeing Kyuubi having some form of respect for its vessel's belief in the matter.

The fox also believed the three-tails would feel the same way and possibly join the boy just for that.

_**'He just might pulls this off after all,'**_ thought Kyuubi knowing this kid was doing the impossible at the moment.

(A/N: YAY! I updated. Damn that was draining. Hope you all enjoyed that. Until next time...PEACE!)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-Birth of Heaven

It took three long years, but they had finally gathered together in a single room, and stood around a circular table staring at one another. For the first time in known history of the Elemental Countries, they had all gathered at a single location, and now stared at each of their fellow Jinchuriki. Each individual standing at this table, were assigned their place, as it pertained to the number of tails their demon had, and eyeing the other while looking for deception that they may have been hiding in only coming here to setup some kind of ambush with their village backing them up.

"In all the years since Jinchuriki have existed, we have never gathered like this before at one place, and all for a single purpose each of us has craved since our childhoods," said Han with Roshi next to him eyeing the others carefully.

"Not all of us are here. Our two brethren from Mist village are lost to us and for different reasons," said Yugito sadly while seeing the empty spaces where they should be located.

"Yes. We can thank the Akatsuki for one of them being killed," said Roshi angrily, as he was hating the organization more, and more with each passing day.

"The other was the Mizukage of the Mist, right? How did he die?" said Fu while being a bit shy around so many Jinchuriki that could give her a run for her money.

"The rebellion against him won out. His demon will manifest itself in a few years. When that happens, I will ask the three-tails to join us in being our guardian of our waters, and main defender of Outer Heaven from the seas," said Naruto having stepped out from the shadows towards the round table where the others where Jinchuriki like himself were standing.

His current appearance was much different then that of the Bingo Book this time, as he wore forest camouflage pants, combat boots, shirt of similar design, and a tan colored trench coat that hid his metallic armor. The Namikaze's hair was not spiky this time, but slicked back, the eye patch was on his left eye, and hands behind his back. When they saw Naruto, the other Jinchuriki had a sudden urge to stand at attention, and give him a military salute.

Ocelot had mentally joked that Naruto was the spitting image of Big Boss when he was looking himself in the mirror.

"Its good to see you again Namikaze Naruto," said Gaara before bowing his head slightly at him.

"Likewise Sabaku no Gaara. I take it from the fact you're here, Temari has taken over Suna in being the Kazekage, and you have left your village for good?" said Naruto seeing Gaara nodding his head yes.

"She has and I have. Effective immediately, my sister has been correcting the mistakes my Father made, and making the people realize how foolish they were to treat me with such hate. Temari will help Suna become our most useful ally in the future," said Gaara while Naruto nodded and looked at the others.

"And the rest of you? I know for a fact the two of you from Kumo were treated all right in your village and yet here you are standing before the rest of us," said Naruto while looking at Yugito and Killer Bee.

"I won't deny our time in Kumo is probably paradise compared to what you and the all the other Jinchuriki here went through. However, it doesn't mean we won't leave for a life away from being the tools of our village, and reach for the chance to do something more with our lives," said Yugito with Killer Bee nod in agreement with her.

"Kitty is right Nine. We only want to live a life being fine," said Killer Bee while Yugito hissed at him for calling her Kitty.

"I understand. I think. What about the rest of you? Are you willing to join Outer Heaven knowing what this will mean? It won't be easy at first and there is a lot of work to do in bringing back Whirlpool Country to its former glory with the villages no doubt being upset at us leaving. Not to mention the Akatsuki organization and the need for other members outside of ourselves for people treated like us," said Naruto seeing them nod knowing this was the path they chose.

"They've been picking us off one by one. Let's see how they handle all of us together," said Han with Roshi nodding.

"I say we shake things up a bit," said Fu with determination in her voice.

"That's the spirit. Now, I don't need to tell you how the chain of command is going to work here, and that I will be the leader of this group. Any objections?" said Naruto while the others shook their heads no.

"You know what you're doing Namikaze-sama. There is no reason to change the status quo," said Roshi with Han nodding in agreement.

"What's next step in the plan?" said Gaara seeing Naruto throw a Bingo Book onto the table with it open and showing the highlighted page he marked concerning Missing Nin.

"The next step? Funding and recruitment," said Naruto seeing them nod before passing the book around for them to look at each potential candidate or target.

"You said there were a few people in the Leaf willing to join?" said Yugito while looking over the book handed to her by Gaara.

"Yes. Mitarashi Anko is a Special Jounin and second-in-command of the village's I&T Department. Her life was Hell like mine. If given the chance, she'll leave the Leaf, and join up with us to get away from the hatred for her that even now hasn't left Konoha. Several members of the Aburame Clan feel persecuted there too and wish to relocate here to grow a secondary clan here while still keeping ties to their main clan in the Leaf. I have spoken to Hyuuga Hiashi and he feels a secondary Hyuuga Clan not bound by the old ways is vital for the future of the bloodline and given his blessing in letting his eldest daughter join us here," said Naruto with Killer Bee nodding at such a strong candidates.

"The fact Mitarashi Anko and Hyuuga Hinata are your lovers doesn't hurt their chances of joining either, right?" said Gaara seeing Naruto smirk at him.

"I see you've been paying attention to the rumors. Yes. Anko is my lover, as is Hinata too, so are several other women in the Leaf. All of them are choosing me over the village and want to get away from there," said Naruto knowing in the last three years things had changed.

For one, Naruto was now older, wiser, and stronger then before with the help of his first three teachers continuing their training of him to be the next Big Boss. In addition, the Namikaze had become an expert Seal Master after finding his Mother's scrolls detailing how to do them, and how every Uzumaki back in her time was feared for their skills in the art.

"We should focus on recruiting the people that escaped the Mist's Bloodline Civil War. I know of several places rumored to hold scattered clans that barely got out of there alive," said Yugito knowing that Kumo had investigated these rumors before, but no doubt those people with bloodlines kept themselves hidden, and avoided such recruitment parties.

"We'll need to recruit Shinobi, who are more focused on tracking before we can go after them, and offer them a place in Outer Heaven," said Fu knowing anyone with their kind of lifestyle had trust issues.

"Agreed. Fortunately, we have a strong foundation to work with, as Wave Country has provided support for assisting in Outer Heaven being constructed, and Spring Country has also provided resources needed to make the construction process possible. Right now the defensive walls for us are being setup right now along key areas while housing is still an issue that needs addressing among other things. To speed things along, each of us will assist in the construction process, and building Outer Heaven so we all have a strong sense of attachment. When we aren't helping in the building of our new home, we will be training, and doing missions to bring in more financial support to help us grow," said Naruto seeing them nod in agreement.

"That and the Icha Icha Paradise Movie you recently made with Koyuki also helped bring in a massive fortune too," said Yugito with a smirk and Naruto just chuckled.

"From that smirk on your cute face I take it you enjoyed watching me," said Naruto with Yugito blushing and Nibi snickering at her.

_**"If he only knew just how many times you went to see it kitten," **_said Nibi while Yugito mentally glared at the demon cat.

'Quiet you!' thought Yugito while the Nibi just kept laughing.

"_That _aside Namikaze-sama, we should also discuss the idea of additional training to help master the power of our respectful demon's, and other skills to combat the Akatsuki," said Han since he along with Roshi had been trying to do that for awhile now.

"I can do that. I'm Bee who knows where its at. Help with your demon Killer Bee can for my demon is my number one fan," said Killer Bee making everyone sweat drop at him.

"You see what I have to work with here?" said Yugito with Naruto shaking his head and smirking.

"We'll try to work on that too. Han and Roshi will learn from Killer Bee in mastering the power sealed in them. Anyone else is welcome to join, but let me know first, and keep me updated on your progress. Kyuubi is already working with me in a symbiotic kind of way so training in using his power doesn't have to start right away when it comes to myself. Also, I need you Killer Bee to help them handle fighting Genjutsus, and how to fight without your demonic powers since several of the Akatsuki have the ability to suppress them," said Naruto with Bee giving a thumbs up with a smirk on his face.

"Leave it to me fox. You have my word. I'll work them like Yugito wants to work your-AAH!" said Bee, as he dodged the demonic chakra, and saw Yugito blushing heavily with a look of anger on her face.

"Finish that rhyme and your dead on so many levels!" said Yugito while shaking her fist at him.

"Okay kitty cat. No need to go crazy like a bat," said Bee before ducking under another wave of Nibi's fire.

"All right! All right! Calm down. Killer Bee, don't tease your fellow Jinchuriki like that, and Yugito please calm yourselves. I don't want this place being burned down before it can be built," said Naruto while Yugito let out a huff while Bee stuck his head out from under the table and waved a white flag to indicate his surrender.

"What we going to do about additional allies?" said Gaara knowing Wave and Spring Country were supporting them right now with potential room for a few more like Suna.

"We have two countries so far supporting us, as you are already aware of, but just the two countries themselves on paper aren't enough, and we need more. What we need is our own spy network, but not like Jiraiya of the Sannin's, and certainly not the way he goes about getting it from them. People within each country, in each Shinobi village that reports to us while working for key figures at every level, and knowing the details going on. From a Daimyo's Advisors in his or her court to the ANBU personally guarding a Kage will be secret agents in deep cover reporting what they know to us. Whatever they know, we will know, and we will act on it before they do depending on the situation. Is there another war coming? What kind of disputes between countries are there? Who tried to kill who for what cause? And so on. We will a force that sees the whole picture and not just the one side after the line is drawn. When we fight in a cause, the side we join will be the right side, _but _if we learn of something sinister being done during the middle of the fighting, we will pull out, and make the secrets behind the conflict known to everyone," said Naruto knowing the side they fight on would turn the tide of any war.

"Sounds risky," said Fu knowing being a third party in wars and conflicts sometimes made them enemies on both sides.

"All wars and conflicts are risky Fu-san. It's the price we pay," said Naruto seeing his fellow Jinchuriki nod in understanding.

They had been created to be weapons for war, it was only fitting they follow through with what they were created for, _but_ on their terms, and against the power mad idiots that had _ironically _been behind their creation in some way. Of course, people would oppose them for uniting together, as fear of what they could do when working side by side would no doubt bring opposition, and attempts to destroy them.

"And you will pay the most, won't you," said Gaara simply since he sensed there was more to it then that.

"Correct," said Naruto with the others looking a bit confused.

"What does he mean?" said Han with a frown.

"Along with my Code Name I'm know for, I intend to take up another to further solidify myself as the leader of Outer Heaven, and it is a cursed title handed down from Teacher to Student in the ways of war," said Naruto with everyone becoming saddened by this news.

"What title? What is the Code Name?" said Fu seeing Naruto smile slightly.

"My main Code Name will be Big Boss and only when I have earned it will I be called by that name. Many years before the Sage of Six Paths was born, the world was different from what we know, and was even more violent then too. Back then, wars were massive, brutal, bloody, and some cases so damn senseless. Back then, there was single soldier that was considered the greatest of his time, and was unmatched in all forms of combat. His name was Big Boss, the successor to The Boss, who was his predecessor to the title of Boss, and they fought one on one in combat to determine which of them would live to carry on the title," said Naruto seeing his fellow Jinchuriki were now focused entirely on him.

"How is this title cursed?" said Roshi while seeing Naruto run a hand through his hair.

"Its cursed because the one who carries the title of Boss in their Code Name will forever know combat. It will never stop. It will never end. Always alert. Always active. Never letting down my guard for even a second. My ear always to the ground in case a conflict arrives and until then I prepare for one almost nonstop," said Naruto while seeing the look of horror on their eyes.

'To be in combat forever is a big responsibility. So...overwhelming!' thought Yugito, as she understood his situation, and yet...was saddened to know Naruto would never be able to let down his guard.

"And any children you have?" said Han knowing this cursed title could be past down to them.

"Only one of my children can be given that title should I choose to have any of them be trained to follow my path in being the next Big Boss of Outer Heaven. They cannot just inherit it. They must earn it through training, battle, blood, and death itself," said Naruto seeing them understand just how severe it was to have such a title.

"Trial by fire," said Gaara simply with Naruto nodding.

"Exactly! Even then, I may have an apprentice of sorts instead to become my successor if I see the potential, and only then if I wish it," said Naruto making sure they understood that the title of Big Boss wasn't just going to be handed out like candy to children.

"Sound harsh," said Bee finally and for once he wasn't rapping.

"That's our lives Bee. It's the path we walk. That path I must walk for as long as I'm able to until my body gives out. By that time, my successor will come along, and defeat me in a fight to the death in combat," said Naruto seeing many cringe at that.

"Like I said fox, the whole thing sounds harsh," said Bee with Naruto smirking.

"And like Gaara said, its trial by fire so the whole thing has to be harsh, and there is no backing out of it for me. There is still a chance for any one of you to leave and no one here will think any less of you for it," said Naruto at last knowing one day, someone at sometime would kill him, and take his place.

Whether it was at the hands of a family member or a student was his only real choice in how it ended.

"I'm in until the very end," said Gaara knowing his friend, who had written to him for over three years in sharing knowledge, philosophy, and personal insights from their own lives deserved that much.

"Me too!" said Fu knowing it was because of the Namikaze soldier standing only a few feet away that she was given a chance at a life away from the usual one of a Jinchuriki.

"Roshi and I are with you all the way," said Han with Roshi nodding knowing that even if Naruto was the son of the Yondaime, the young man before them still suffered, and had long since wiped away any debts his old man may have owed.

"And what about you two? Are you in?" said Naruto looking at Yugito and Killer Bee.

"I'm in. The status quo of the world needs to change and we're the only ones capable of making that change happen," said Yugito with determination in her voice.

"Killer Bee is a man of his word Big Boss. Just like he's a man who brushes his teeth and knows how to floss. You invited us to come here to bring about something great and to combat the threat of the world being consumed in hate. So I'm in to the end like everyone else here and I just hope my words made my intention clear," said Killer Bee with the other Jinchuriki raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'm...going to take that as a yes and saying you're in," said Naruto while Killer Bee had a tick mark on his forehead for a second before shrugging.

"I have a question. Even though we know everyone is all in and we know what we have to do...who out there is going to stop us from doing it?" said Fu knowing there was more then just the Akatsuki they would have to deal with.

"Our old home villages for one. The Daimyo of each country will react differently to us, as some will hire us, and some will try to do the opposite. Thankfully, not _everyone_ in the world wishes us harm, and sees us as a threat. Just the rogue elements. We don't have to worry about the Leaf as much since the Hokage is secretly backing this since I told her about the plan three years ago. Being her Godson has its perks," said Naruto with a smirk on his face.

'Indeed,' thought everyone around Naruto.

"Through her, I can get the people in my village, who want out to come here, and setup a new life for them. I know for a fact each of you has someone you think would be perfect from your own village, who could be recruited to Outer Heaven, or possibly help provide support for us within the walls of the Shinobi village you are from. I don't want to hear them all at once, but I will hear from each of you individually tomorrow should you wish to bring a candidate to my attention, and why they should be considered. Until then, our first official meeting as Outer Heaven's newly formed Wisemen's Committee has now been completed, and I will let all of you retire to your assigned quarters for the day," said Naruto bowing slightly and left the others to go to their assigned rooms.

"Not bad. You're getting better. It won't be long now Naruto," said Big Boss having seen the progress of the meeting inside the young Namikaze's head.

'I know. I don't want you to go. I don't want to take this final test just yet,' thought Naruto while heading for his own quarters.

"Its unavoidable Naruto. I went through it with The Boss herself in my time. I fought her several times before our final battle. Each time, I was hesitant, and even hated myself for killing her. I endured, same as you when the times comes to take up the mantle, as all of us do when we take up the title of Boss, and it cannot be stopped. Out of all three of my sons, only one of them was worthy of it, and he fought _NOT _to have the title knowing how it would bind him to me. He was the only one to escape the cycle that bound all of us from its start to finish and set us all free in the end. However, as the world changed from what we knew to what it is now, the powers that be need it to start over again, and for all the right reasons with people who can make sure the reason stays pure. As The Boss entrusted me with her dream Naruto, I am doing the same in entrusting it to you, and knowing that its in good hands," said Big Boss knowing Naruto still didn't like it.

'When will I face you and the others?' thought Naruto before opening his door.

"Soon. Not now, but soon. You are close, but not that close, and you still need to face a few more of your enemies before facing each of us. First, deal with the Akatsuki, then the villages should they wish to destroy Outer Heaven, and when that is over...then you fight us," said Big Boss seeing Naruto sigh knowing this path was going to kill him quickly or slowly depending on how things went.

'Anko, Hinata, Tayuya, and even Hana are all going to hate me when they learn about that,' thought Naruto knowing that wasn't going to be fun.

Hana was another woman he had gotten to know in the last three years, as they went on a mission together, which really got them to bond, and started a growing relationship. It all started with a tracking mission for a mid level Missing Nin, who had killed two family members of the Fire Daimyo's Advisors, and was apparently went crazy after lying out in the sun too long a week prior in Wind Country. Naruto went one way to find him while Hana had gone the other when they saw two different sets of tracks leading in different directions caused most likely by a Blood Clone of their target given how the scent on both tracks were the same. Unfortunately, Hana got the correct one, and was ambushed by the crazy man.

It also didn't help that the Missing Nin prepared to fight a member of the Inuzuka and threw a smoke bomb at Hana to mess with her senses. When Naruto found her, Hana was on the ground, the Missing Nin was on top of her, grinning like a madman, and it was perfectly clear what the man wanted to do next to the female Inuzuka.

Not on Naruto's watch.

A stealth made kill later with his HF sword through the Missing Nin's skull and Hana was saved from having something truly disgusting from happening to her.

The start of their relationship for the next three years. Something the woman's Mother didn't protest against, as she heard from her daughter what happened, and Naruto soon found himself in the woman's infinite good graces in the process. Kiba was upset of course, but Hana basically punted him out of the house, and ended any argument the younger of the two wanted to have regarding this.

_**"Give them some credit kit. They're smart women. They knew what they were getting into the very moment they stuck by you these last three years. They'll help keep you sane through the dark times,"**_ said Kyuubi seeing Naruto sigh while running his hand through his hair again.

"He's right Naruto. I would have gone insane had I not drowned myself in conflict, had not found Frank, and took him on as my student. Even Ocelot when he joined up with me had helped heal a piece of my heart knowing the man was The Boss's son and we could look past what had become of that incident," said Big Boss with Ocelot nodding in full agreement.

'When should I have them come here to Outer Heaven? The defensive walls and housing areas need to be built first before any real population can spring about from this,' thought Naruto with Big Boss thinking it over.

"As of right now, you have the main building here done, which will be the nerve center of Outer Heaven, and thus has a few rooms meant to accommodate people as guests while the lower regions below are meant for prisoners. Start with the wall first so you have a way to defend against intruders, then focus on homes soon after, and rotate from there on," said Big Boss with Naruto nodding in understanding.

"Naruto-sama," said Tayuya when Naruto walked further into his room and surprised the young mercenary at seeing the red head here.

"Tayuya? What are you doing here?" said Naruto seeing woman in a tight red Shinobi uniform that matched her hair with a silk blue ribbon tied in a bow behind her back with a kodachi sheathed at her right leg by the knee.

"I came here to deliver a message to you by the Hokage. She says its urgent and doesn't trust Jiraiya of the Sannin to deliver this information," said Tayuya, as she handed him a scroll, and saw him reading it.

"Damn! The Akatsuki are making their move now. Word got out to them of us all coming together here and they're going to make a move soon," said Naruto grimacing at this turn of events.

"That's not all. Your old teammate Uchiha Sasuke fled to the Leaf with Haruno Sakura for Rice Country. He's going to try getting power from that place in order to kill his older brother Uchiha Itachi," said Tayuya knowing without a leader, the place was falling apart into utter chaos, and the Uchiha was going to stabilize it just enough only to get what he wanted before letting the chaos continue.

"I should have killed him three years ago. The only good Uchiha is a dead Uchiha," said Naruto angrily while Tayuya came closer and hugged him.

"You need to rest Naruto-sama. Your tired," said Tayuya while sensing just how tired the Namikaze really was and how his body ached from the stress he was under.

"I'll rest when I'm dead," said Naruto, but even then his voice showed signs of it, and the red head held him even tighter.

"No. You'll rest now and regain your lost strength. The world won't be destroyed in one day," said Tayuya before guiding him to the bed and helped him lie down after removing the various articles of clothing that he wore.

"You'd be surprised," said Naruto before his eye lids began to get heavy and sleep soon took him into the land of dreams.

Sensing him sleeping, Tayuya removed her weapons, got into the bed with him, and then covered his body with her own while pressing herself against his form like a blanket just before covering them both with one. She nestled her face at the crook of his neck, all the while humming a soft tune that came into her mind, and Tayuya sensed his muscles were becoming less rigid from action.

'Hinata-sama, Hana-sama, and Anko-sama were right. We have to protect Naruto-sama from himself,' thought Tayuya while vowing to do just that.

(A/N: YAY! Another update. Hope this filler is good enough for you guys because the next chapter will be intense. If I can have the strength to write it. To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed in some of the authors out there (you know who you are!) _**NOT**_ updating their stuff, and its getting harder to write my own because I feed off their fics like you guys no doubt feed off mine. So for all you slackers and lazy bums out there with fics I like to read and haven't been updating…_**MOVE YOUR LAZY ASSES!**_ And with that said until next time...PEACE!)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-Birth of Hell

The fire of war raged around Rice Country. Dead bodies lay everywhere and the various birds that ate their flesh were already feasting happily on the corpses laid before them like a smorgasbord. Samurai and Shinobi were on today's menu for these birds and even the various animals in this region of the world once those first to arrive in eating had their fill. The war itself was started by the Rice Daimyo, who was paid a visit by one Uchiha Sasuke, and his subordinate Haruno Sakura shortly upon the Missing Nin's arrival into his domain.

Back when Orochimaru first came to Rice Country, he sweet talked the Feudal Lord into allowing him to setup a hidden village, and the promise of making the country strong. The country was small, a few Shinobi clans at best, but they were all scattered, divided, and in some cases would war with each other. The Sannin had come with the promise of uniting the clans and train strong Shinobi capable of contending with the five major ones and make Rice Country one to be feared. The Feudal Lord of Rice was a man with strong ambitions himself, but without the means to act, and could not until Orochimaru arrived with his knowledge.

Hence the building of the village and the building up of forces capable of fighting anyone under the Sannin's command.

When _Sasuke_ arrived, no one really took him seriously since he was still a kid not even old enough to shave, and the Uchiha had to use his own _methods _of persuasion to get the point across. None of them had the finesse of Orochimaru's had, which while were brutal in their own ways was done on a calculating measure to ensure a mixture of loyalty that was mixed into the fear, and ensure that betrayal was the last thing from his subordinates mind. Uchiha Sasuke didn't care about finesse though, as he cared about results, and that they were done to ensure things benefitted himself.

And all for giving him power to kill those he hated most. Namely Itachi and Naruto for their ability to get strong while he was left behind with nothing. With Itachi, Sasuke had embraced his hate to kill the slayer of the Uchiha Clan, as it was what the older of the two brothers had forced upon the younger, and start the clan over. With Naruto however, the hatred was born from jealousy, as Sasuke felt he was being cheated out of everything, and the power people had that should belong only to him. It was absurd. Pure and simple. An Uchiha always got what he wanted and took what he wanted from anybody that had power.

Hence how Rice Country had come to be war torn and in shambles under the boy turned man's poisonous touch. Sasuke had gone to see the Rice Daimyo, not unlike how the snake Sannin had done, _but unlike_ Orochimaru's way of doing thing, the Uchiha had used his Sharingan to basically give the Missing Nin permission to cause untold chaos to their enemies, and show no mercy.

And that was what Sasuke did or rather _tried _to do. The boy turned man had expected things to go his way from the start since in Sasuke's mind made him believe that things should always go his way and if they didn't...he'd make it by any means necessary. First, he went after the small villages, and the countries they served before going after the much bigger ones.

But Sasuke had miscalculated on so many levels. First, the Uchiha had assumed his brutal ways would allow him to have the same level of loyal troops that Orochimaru had when inheriting them from the dead Sannin, and none of them would dare cross him. Second, the opposition would fall easily given his Sharingan, the skills his clan were known for, and the forces he gained from his conquering.

And last, but certainly not least...Sasuke had underestimated Namikaze Naruto.

While Sasuke had planned for things to go his way from the start by his presence alone, Naruto had worked hard to gather those that he knew would become drawn to him, and what he believed in without questioning their loyalty. Because of his brutal nature when killing off several clans that refused to follow him after his victories, Sasuke had faced desertions, questioning of his motives, which had resulted in killing off a few small clans that showed signs of abandoning him for his cruel actions, and further proved he was a heartless bastard. Naruto didn't act like that, as his ranks slowly, but steadily swelled in Outer Heaven with people _wanting_ to join, and even those that deserted Rice Country had done the same. Those that had left Sound, had told Sasuke's opposite of all the sins the Uchiha was committing, and planning on doing to the world without regret to his actions against it.

That in itself made Naruto furious over his mistake in sparing the bastard and showing him mercy by letting the prick live. Big Boss had told Naruto that something similar had happened with him and Major Zero with the man living to continue his havoc after their split to form their own groups. Only by killing Sasuke would the blonde find a measure of peace in himself for this oversight and only by killing Sasuke could the world begin to slowly heal itself.

So a plan was set in motion to pit Sasuke's enemies against him at the same time, as the blonde Jinchuriki knew the arrogant jerk would fight enemies on all sides, and decided to give him just that. Gaara had contacted his sister in Suna, telling her the situation while Killer Bee did the same for the Raikage about Uchiha Sasuke, and how he was the one attack both villages in the belief they would fall to him. Add to the fact Sasuke was not keeping this a strictly Shinobi affair also made things worse for the leader of Sound, as his actions in using the Rice Daimyo's samurai army to attack other countries had caused those Feudal Lords to send out their armies.

In short, Sasuke was losing ground fast, and his own hatred was blinding him to that very simple truth in a painful manner. Even worse was the morale of his forces had thinned to the very minimum of numbers, as the Shinobi that stayed were retired due to being too old, or were too injured to risk leaving the Uchiha out of fear of him hunting them down to face a slow agonizing death.

The only young person Sasuke's age now was Sakura, but while the pink haired girl had firmly believed that the Uchiha would never betray her, the truth was the Sharingan user would in a heartbeat, and the only reason he hadn't...was because her usefulness had not run out. But it was closing fast with Rice Country's enemies closing in on her and him for starting this fight he couldn't win. Karin had left him after seeing his brutality and cold acts of murder of subordinates simply on a _whim_ no matter what they did to displease the Uchiha. Hōzuki Suigestu had stuck with him longer on account of the Uchiha's desire to spill blood and knowing where to gain one of the Seven Swords of Mist at Wave Country where Zabuza's grave had been. However, as things became noticeably dire, Suigestu had started to think about his own survival since he would most likely be locked up again in a cell somewhere, and fled just past the Rice Country border only to have one very pissed off Namikaze Naruto himself waiting for him.

Naruto had respected Zabuza and Haku too much to see some would-be swordsman on the Uchiha's side of the war simply defile their graves just for the sake of the marker left behind. After Karin had left, Naruto had a tracking team be deployed to find her, and bring the girl to him for questioning on everything she knew about Sasuke's operations. After the girl told him everything she knew, including what Suigestu had done, Naruto was livid at the news, and personally to hunt the bastard down after learning everything about the man during his time being there. Karin didn't know much about Suigestu's life before she came to Sound, but the red haired girl did know that the swordsman had been experimented on by Orochimaru, and had the ability to become one with water. Whether or not it was some kind of clan ability or the Sannin's experimentations bringing about his ideal goal was unknown.

Quite frankly Naruto didn't care at the time.

(Flashback-Border of Fire and Rice Country)

"Do you know why I am here? Aside from wanting Sasuke's exact location?" said Naruto with his HF sword drawn and ready for a fight.

"Yeah I do. Sasuke told me this would happen when I went to get this sword in Wave Country. Zabuza made quite the impression on you from what I heard and how you were going to hold a grudge against me for taking this," said Suigestu, as he grinned at Naruto, and got Kubikiribōchō ready for combat.

"You could say that. I have nothing, but the greatest respect for him, and I will not have someone claiming to be his successor take the blade that is his grave marker. The blade had only one true Master and it was him!" said Naruto with Suigestu scowling at him for the insult.

"You don't know anything brat! The blade of one of the Seven Swordsmen is always past down from teacher to student and was going to be the next one to wield it after his death. I would have come for the sword sooner if Orochimaru hadn't locked me away since my loyalty to him was always in question, but now I have a chance fulfill my own ambition, and this sword in my hands is the first of the seven I intend to collect," said Suigestu, as Naruto scowled further while got ready to strike, and his Tactical Eye hidden behind the eye patch was showing him the information needed to fight the man before him.

But first...Naruto wanted to see just how good Suigestu _really_ was with that sword when compared to Zabuza.

The two charged forward, their swords clashing against the other, though it was clear that Naruto's was the sharper blade after cutting into Kubikiribōchō, and Suigestu had to jump back to assess the damage before charging in again. Naruto would admit to himself that Suigestu had the moves to use Zabuza's sword, but the man was far from the level of skill the Demon of the Mist possessed, and also lacked the foot work needed fight back like the Namikaze. All the rogue swordsman did was swing, swing, and more swing with the blade with no finesse at all.

The training Suigestu had while was been good was _also_ incomplete at best.

"I know enough. Judging by the fact you're running away from Sound, you aren't loyal to Sasuke, and would rather not side with the losing part in this war when facing judgment," said Naruto, as he kicked Suigestu back, and saw the point of impact turn slightly into water before turning back into solid flesh again.

"Maybe. The Uchiha isn't really known for being nice. The only reason that Sakura chick tolerates him is because she wants to get into his pants and make little babies for him. Not that he ever gives her the time of day to do it. He's so obsessed with wanting power that the piece of ass right next to him ready, willing, and able to give him pleasure is being ignored. I'm beginning to think Sasuke's gay," said Suigestu while Naruto just smirked at him.

"Yeah. I'm willing to bet that too. So many fan girls wanted him and he just ignored them all," said Naruto while waiting for his opponent to make his next move.

"What an ass. Ha! But seriously were getting off track of the conversation. The point is, I need a place to continue my ambition to get all seven swords in my possession, and I'm not about to be stopped by the likes of you," said Suigestu before performing the Hidden Mist Jutsu using it in combination of turning his body slightly into water.

'So he know _this_ Jutsu huh? Not surprising I suppose. He must have been trained in Mist in their Jutsus along with your swordsmanship before being turned into one of the snake Sannin's test subject,' thought Naruto while closing his eye and expanding his other four senses.

Before rolling to his right and dodged the blade aimed at his shoulder.

"Good reflexes. You can't see me in the mist so your compensating with the other senses to find out where I'm going to strike next," said Suigestu with a grin on his face knowing that many relied on their eyes and only a fool would use them against such a Jutsu.

"Only a fool relies just on his eyes alone. And as you can tell I am no fool," said Naruto before gathering chakra around him and unleashed it to part the mist.

"Not bad. Shame I didn't run into you first before the Uchiha. Something tells me that we would have gotten along very well," said Suigestu with his grin getting wider to show his sharp teeth.

"Still could you know. Mist is getting back on its feet with the Mizukage and I'm sure she would like to have someone like you on her side to reform the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist," said Naruto with Suigestu, as he saw the man was interested in that, and gave the blonde a inquiring look.

"And I could be its leader?" said Suigestu knowing that was part of his dream.

"If you ask politely. Hoshigaki Kisame has one of the swords you seek and I'm sure the Mizukage will reward you greatly for helping her retrieve each weapon to place in the hands of a worthy successor to lead in her name," said Naruto seeing Suigestu grinning even further.

"And you can make this happen?" said Suigestu with intrigue.

"Would I be making the offer if it wasn't possible?" said Naruto seeing the man looking at him with some suspicion.

"You are a man of your word from what I've heard. Very rare these days. Not to mention your reputation has made you quite the influential man in the world. I even heard a rumor that some of the various Daimyos in the Elemental Countries don't dare make potentially dangerous moves that bring about conflict without your secret approval," said Suigestu while Naruto just smirked more.

"Perhaps. Though how that rumor got out makes me suspect someone told someone, who wasn't suppose to know, and I have a feeling that person is going to be in a lot of trouble for leaking it out to spite me," said Naruto knowing there was only one person with the means to get such information out and that had been a _big_ thing on the "do not do that to Naruto list" in regards to this certain person.

"Then let's make a deal and swear to honor it on our skills as swordsmen. You take me to the Mizukage to become a Seven Swordsman of the Mist and in return I'll tell you where Sasuke is going to be hiding out," said Suigestu seeing Naruto narrow his eye at him.

"And how do I know the information you give will be accurate?" said Naruto since he had been having his force helping Suna and Kumo in this war in sacking base after base Sasuke had setup.

"Sasuke's running out of bases. I saw a report how two of them were taken a few days ago without much resistance. He has one more, but even I know that one is going to get sacked sooner then later, and the current base Sasuke's currently hold up in just happens to be the best concealed one. You know how a guy like him is, right? The old 'save the best for last' and all that other crap," said Suigestu seeing Naruto nodding since Sasuke would leave the best for last.

"Okay. I agree. We go to Mist and convince the Mizukage you're worthy of being the leader of the new Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. In return, you tell me where the base, and what to expect when there," said Naruto seeing Suigestu grin further.

"Deal!" said Suigestu knowing his luck was turning for the better.

(End Flashback)

Now here Naruto was, standing among the fires of war with his forces having moved swiftly to reach Sasuke's final base, and bring things to an end. It would be amusing to see the Uchiha after all this time, as Naruto wanted to see just how strong the Uchiha was, and if the jerk had actually done more then just command his opponents to surrender because he was an Uchiha. There was also some information that Naruto wanted to have confirmed from the arrogant jerk about a spy in the Leaf feeding the Uchiha information since there were signs of it in several reports the Namikaze had read from his own spies. While Naruto had an idea of the source behind the spy in the Leaf, he knew that proof for his Godmother to take down the spy, and knew that the best way to catch the mole was to outfox the rat by spilling his guts!

_"Gray Fox-sama,"_ said a female voice into the Namikaze's earpiece.

"This is Gray Fox. Go ahead Stinger," said Naruto using Fu's codename in honor of the demon sealed inside her.

"We found the base. Its filled with old and wounded Shinobi. They're either to old, weak, or injured to fight us. Its about 5 miles North of your current position," said Fu, as she had scouted ahead of him, and found the base in the general area Suigestu had told them to look.

"Don't let down your guard Stinger. Just because it _looks _like the base is just littered with weak Shinobi doesn't mean it is. Sasuke _might_ have something up his sleeve and while I do not believe that personally...I'd rather not ignore the possibility out some sense of pride or arrogance in my own abilities," said Naruto knowing that underestimating your enemy was unwise.

"Understood. I'm going to continue surveillance for now until you get here," said Fu since she knew he would want to handle this himself.

It didn't take long for Naruto to get to the base, landing beside Fu, and to give it a once over himself while checking for any real threats that Sasuke might be hiding. Seeing none so far, the blonde ordered Fu to stay behind to keep an eye on things, and then entered the base before finding the entrance to the underground area Suigestu had told him was the entrance. Entering cautiously, Naruto found most of the room were empty, and there was not a single enemy standing in his way.

Something was wrong.

It wasn't until Naruto came to a single large room did the Namikaze realize Sasuke had been expecting him and saw the Uchiha on the ground in what seemed like mediation. Not that Naruto believed Sasuke embraced mediation, as the emo was too into himself to actually accept the concept, and would sooner go on a date with Sakura then embrace the path to serenity.

"So its just you and me huh? Where's Sakura? I half expected her hear screeching about how you were unbeatable, that I was moron, and would never match your greatness. Did you finally knock her up to shut her up?" said Naruto with Sasuke standing and opening his eyes to reveal the Mangekyō Sharingan.

"She finally proved her usefulness to me," said Sasuke triumphantly while Naruto just scowled at him.

"You stupid idiot. The one girl left in the whole freaking world willing to be the Mother of your children and you kill her. And for what? For _that_! You do realize the chances of rebuilding your clan just went from slim to none right?" said Naruto seeing Sasuke just scoff at him.

"Please! As if I'd want Sakura to give me such weak children. Besides, once I kill Itachi, his eyes will allow me to become Immortal, and the need to rebuild the Uchiha Clan will become a mute point," said Sasuke with Naruto raising an eyebrow at him.

"And how are you going to do that idiot? You're never going to kill him and even if you do manage do it...his eyes will practically be useless to you," said Naruto seeing Sasuke now scowling at him.

"Shut up loser! You just don't get it, do you? Once I kill you, Itachi will be next, and then the world will bow before the might of the Uchiha Clan for all eternity," said Sasuke, as he saw Naruto shake his head at him, and didn't look impressed at him.

"If you say so, but then again you did like to talk a lot of shit, and run your mouth to the point where your ass couldn't cash the check it wrote," said Naruto seeing Sasuke draw a kunai and grin evilly at him.

"According to your pathetic way of thinking. While you were busy gather up such weak fools, _I _was looking into enhancing my already elite body into becoming something more then what it already was, and have broken free from my limitations!" said Sasuke, as he now had his tongue out, and it was long like Orochimaru's had been while he now stood on the tip of his right foot's big toe.

"Reminds me of Vamp," said Ocelot, as he sensed Naruto nodding at him, and saw the Uchiha just grin further.

"Impressed? You should be loser. I used Orochimaru's past experiments he had locked up, dissected them, and made them apart of something great inside me. I've taken what measly power they possessed and brought them together to make something greater then they ever could be alone," said Sasuke showing his fangs and clawed hands.

"You're such pathetic excuse for a human being. You talk of clan superiority, but the fact remains that what you did to yourself was only achieved through unnatural means, and changes that the body will one day reject. Maybe not now or a year into the future. But we both know that your unnatural changes will be the death of you if I'm not here today," said Naruto seeing Sasuke laugh like he just told a hilarious joke.

"That's rich! You're one to talk given the Kyuubi sealed inside of you," said Sasuke with Naruto raising an eyebrow at him.

"So? What about the demonic fox sealed in my gut? He hasn't done anything to make me a better Shinobi," said Naruto with Sasuke snarling at him.

"Don't play dumb! I know the vast chakra reserves you possess come from the demon. I just have to extract the Kyuubi, seal it into myself, and any future problems my body will have are gone," said Sasuke like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Fool. Its not so simple that you can just _seal_ Kyuubi into your body. A Seal Master has to do it and the vessel must just recently brought into the world. You're over a decade and a half too late to take Kyuubi into that deformed body of yours. Even if it was possible, the fox would just overload your chakra network out of spite, and cause your body to explode in a very agonizing way.

_**"Damn right!"**_ said Kyuubi inside Naruto head.

"If I can't have the power inside your body, then no one can, and after I kill you...the sluts at your home are next," said Sasuke before charging forward and Naruto did the same.

The two practically danced around the other, dodging the kunai, or sword trying to slice the other up into tiny pieces. Naruto had to admit that Sasuke was holding his own, but mostly because of the Sharingan, and the unnatural augmentations the Uchiha made to allow his body to be this flexible. Of course, the arrogant prick wasn't the only one with agility, and Naruto was matching the Uchiha move for move. It was always duck, dodge, twist, counter, swing, duck, thrust, jump, spin, slash, and clash of metal hitting metal. Sasuke was becoming less and less pleased with the fact the Namikaze in front of him was doing such a great job of staying alive while cursing the blonde's skills. Naruto was able to dodge the strike by Sasuke, knock the kunai in his hand out of it into the air, leap back to dodge another attack, catch the kunai with his _foot_ using the space between his big toe, and launched it back the Uchiha via a spin kick. Sasuke caught the kunai with his _teeth_, spun with the momentum in a complete circle before facing Naruto again, and was soon found the blonde had used that action to get in close to stab the Uchiha with his HF sword to the stomach.

_However,_ Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the wrist, and threw him away from him while the HF sword was still stuck in the Uchiha's stomach. The raven haired Missing Nin just laughed like Naruto's attempt to kill him was a joke and took the kunai out of his mouth before charging the Namikaze while ignoring the sword in his gut. Naruto smirked at the foolish Uchiha, as dodged two strikes, grabbed the hilt of his HF sword, jumped over the Uchiha, slashing at his back in the process, and a sweep kick that knocked Sasuke off his feet. But the Uchiha grabbed the ground quickly, unnaturally bending his body to spin around, and land on his feet.

"Not bad Sasuke. For a emo bastard, who enjoys mimicking people, and whines all the time...you actually have _some_ skill. Itachi would _almost_ be proud," said Naruto seeing Sasuke scowl at him for the mentioning of the Uchiha Clan's murderer.

"Give it up loser. Anything you can do, I can do better, and will always be the superior one between us," said Sasuke, as he just ignored his injuries, and the Namikaze was beginning to wonder if the Uchiha had somehow numbed his body in order to will it to fight longer.

"A perverted version of mind over matter. Vulcan Raven would be enraged by the way this fool does it," said Ocelot knowing the Shaman had been well skilled in the art and it was no secret how the large man had felt about people perverting the skill to go beyond physical limitations.

"Take his head off and be done with it," said Frank Jaeger with the Namikaze mentally nodding to his two senseis.

"If you are _sooo_ superior, then why are you losing the war, and need to alter yourself in order to keep up with me in the first place?" said Naruto with Sasuke frowning at him.

"Shut up! I maybe losing now, but soon my power will be more then a match for my enemies, and they will be wiped out soon enough," said Sasuke, as he went through hand signs, and then shocked Naruto slightly when forming the one Jutsus that confirmed the suspicion the Namikaze had about the spy in Konoha.

The Jutsu being used was the Rakiri and only _one_ _man_ knew such a Lightning Jutsu to pass it onto Sasuke during this time.

"So he taught it to you. Then its like I suspected all along," said Naruto with Sasuke just smirking at him.

"Yeah. Kakashi showed me. It wasn't easy either given the missions he took and I bet the Hokage had people watching him. Still, with the help of my Sharingan, I was able to learn it very quickly, and preventing anyone from knowing he was my contact in the Leaf village," said Sasuke with the smirk on his face growing a bit, but it stopped when Naruto did the same, and the Uchiha realized that something just happened he missed.

"Thanks teme. That's all the evidence I need. My subordinates have just heard your little confession and recorded every word you've said to me. Your little source for information inside of the Leaf is going to get removed and don't worry about his Sharingan. I'll see it gets obliterated from this world," said Naruto seeing Sasuke's face become filled with rage at being made a fool out of by the Namikaze.

It hurt the emo's pride.

"YOU BASTARD!" yelled Sasuke before charging forward, the Rakiri ready to be used, and Naruto just watched the Uchiha come at him with the intent to kill.

"You would know all about being a bastard...wouldn't you Sasuke?" said Naruto, as got into his sword stance, visible eye closed, and waited for the right moment to strike.

"Nothing you do can stop me. I am an Uchiha! An Elite! All the world will bow to me once it is mine and mine alone. NOW DIE AND LET ME FEED ON YOUR POWER TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN!" said Sasuke thrusting the Lightning Jutsu forward, but the Uchiha had not counted on Naruto being prepared for this moment, and the fact there was a way to counter the powers of the basic powers of the Sharingan.

First, you kept your eyes closed. Second, you had to be patient. Third, your other senses, and skills had to be refined to a razor's edge where using your eyes would be a waste of energy. Naruto had trained himself to do all that and more due to the years of training Big Boss along with his two other senseis in how to fight. There was no school like the really old school and Naruto had become the valedictorian of his graduating class.

As the lightning based Jutsu was within an inch from his chest, Naruto moved faster then Sasuke thought possible with his eyes suppose to show him everything, and didn't believe his eyes were unbeatable. The blonde Namikaze spun around the Uchiha, avoiding the stabbing hand filled with lightning, HF sword arched back high over Naruto's head, and in a slow motion moment the arrogant Uchiha realized he had miscalculated in a soon to be painful fashion.

_SLASH!_

"I have a better idea. Why don't _you_ die and let the world not deal with a prick like you anymore," said Naruto though he knew the question wouldn't be answered anytime soon by the Uchiha.

Not with half of his head diagonally sliced through and slipping off from the rest of the body.

_**"One Uchiha down. Two more Uchiha to go,"**_ said Kyuubi while Naruto just nodded in agreement.

"Gray Fox-sama?" said Fu, as her unit was waiting for him to respond, and the Namikaze knew she was worried about him.

"I'm here Stinger. Inform our agents in both Shinobi villages where the location of this base is, the people in it should not be harmed upon being restrained, and the Uchiha along with his banshee bitch are dead," said Naruto into his communicator microphone, which was part of the earpiece, and extended to his chin when activated.

"Shino-san is already doing that as we speak. What about you?" said Fu curiously since she knew he could do it himself easily.

"I have to see my Godmother in Konoha. We have to handle some important, internal, and quite possibly _personal_ business with some people there before things progress even further," said Naruto while leaving the underground base and heading for Konoha via the shadows of the forest around him.

"All right. Killer Bee contacted me earlier while you were down there. He has some news for you about the Akatsuki and Uchiha Itachi we picked up with our spy network. You are not going to like it. He says you should see him before doing anything else," said Fu while Naruto stopped moving and frowned.

"How serious is this Intel?" said Naruto before a pause came from his fellow Jinchuriki.

"He wasn't rapping," said Fu finally and it made Naruto's eyes go wide.

Bee _never_ rapped when information was serious.

"I'll see him first then. In the meantime, clear a path for Kumo, and Suna to get to the base before heading back. Whatever Intel we have on the Akatsuki, I want everyone on the Committee to know, and prepare a plan to act on it," said Naruto knowing that his fellow Jinchuriki needed to know everything about their enemy.

"Understood. We'll be back soon," said Fu before the line ended.

(Konoha-1 Week Later)

"I can't believe this," said Tsunade, as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, and saw Naruto put the recorder away after playing Sasuke telling who his spy was in the Leaf.

"It came straight from the Uchiha's mouth. He created the Raikiri right in front of me. There is no one else in Konoha with that Jutsu and only _one _person could have taught Sasuke that attack. The fool even killed the one female in the world willing to have his children and continue the Uchiha name all for the sake of power," said Naruto seeing Tsunade looking grim.

"I guess its to be expected. The man blamed you for Sasuke fall from grace and I suspect Kakashi had a hand in Sasuke's defection to Sound too," said Tsunade, as she saw her Godson nod, and then turn to the window with a glare to indicate he knew who was there listening in on the conversation.

"Get in here fool. I have some questions for you," said Naruto coldly before Jiraiya came in through the window and the Sannin didn't look happy.

"What is it Naruto?" said Jiraiya while getting off the window and walked further into the room.

Only to be slammed against the wall..._hard_!

"I've been hearing some interesting things I thought you could verify for me since they are all connected to your pathetic ass. What gives you the right to leak information about my activities to everyone, which puts Outer Heaven in danger, and those of my fellow Jinchuriki? What gives you the right to not tell us how Uchiha Itachi is your spy in the Akatsuki? What gives you the right to not tell us that the appointed leader of the Akatsuki is an _Uzumaki_!" said Naruto seeing Tsunade's eyes widen in shock.

"What?" said Tsunade while rising to her feet.

"How do you know that?" said Jiraiya while seeing Tsunade scowling at him from behind Naruto.

"You think your spy network is the only game in town? This just shows how _sloppy_ you have gotten. Let me fill you in on some things my _Godfather_. My spy network uncovered that information after we captured _theirs _and_ your _spy before proceeding to shall we say well..._squeeze _them for information. The spy we got from your network told us how he was assigned by you _personally_ to learn everything possible about us. While I don't really mind that, I do mind how you were going to use that against us, and sell that information to _our enemies_!" said Naruto while he along with Jiraiya felt Tsunade's killer intent shoot through the roof.

"You were going to do _WHAT_?" said Tsunade furiously at Jiraiya.

"Oh it gets better. The man appointed the leader of the Akatsuki, is an Uzumaki he once helped train him at one point, and has known about this man being the leader for quite awhile. He's possibly my distant cousin and this baka _knew it_!" said Naruto angrily at Jiraiya while the Sannin kept his mouth shut.

"Does this Uzumaki know you're an Uzumaki? That I am on my Grandmother's side?" said Tsunade seeing Jiraiya getting a bit uncomfortable.

"He knows. He knows a lot of things. Jiraiya feeds Itachi information, Itachi gives it to their leader, who I believe calls himself _Pein_, and the man uses that against _me_! Not just me, but all my fellow Jinchuriki, and the people living in Outer Heaven that was once my Mother's ancient homeland of Whirlpool," said Naruto seeing Jiraiya look away from him before being slammed against the wall again so the Sannin would continue to look at the Namikaze.

"Why?" said Tsunade seeing her fellow teammate remain quiet.

"You want to know why Godmother? I'll tell you why. This moron doesn't want me to fulfill the prophecy that will upset the status quo of the Shinobi villages. If that means having the Akatsuki extract the Kyuubi, then so be it, and I'd bet my eye patch Jiraiya would do that if given the choice," said Naruto seeing the Sannin scowl at him.

"The prophecy could destroy everything, everyone, and cause untold destruction upon this world has become," said Jiraiya before being thrown across the room into the wall.

"So take the child of prophecy out of the equation, hence no more prophecy, and no risk of things being changed. The world will stay stagnant and die slowly without change you baka. The world _needs_ _to change_!" said Naruto while Jiraiya got himself free from the wall.

"Says a scorned Jinchuriki that the world hates," said Jiraiya before being grabbed by his face and slammed against the wall.

"Says his Godmother, who _you_ along with Sarutobi-sensei scorned, and trust me when I say you will not be leaving Konoha's hospital for quite some time," said Tsunade, as she intended to make Jiraiya regret wronging her Godson, and practically selling him out to the enemy.

"While you deal with him, _I_ am going to deal with one Hatake Kakashi, and remove that piece of trash from this world," said Naruto before leaving the two former teammates a chance to..._talk_.

A very painful talk at that.

(Memorial Stone)

Kakashi was standing by the Memorial Stone, each name on it of a Konoha Shinobi that had once given their life for the village, and quite the few of them had been friends with the Copy Nin. Rin, Obito, and the Yondaime Hokage himself to name a few people that had their names marked on the Memorial Stone.

Which is why it pained him to see Sasuke and Sakura's were _NOT_ among those names on it.

'I suppose given the nature of things, it would be stupid to have their names on the stone, and openly honor them,' thought Kakashi before sensing a presence behind him and that the person was _NOT _friendly in terms of wanting to talk.

"You are too predictable Hatake. A properly taught Academy student could figure out your habits," said Naruto now standing some 20 feet away from Kakashi.

"What do you want?" said Kakashi calmly though he had an idea.

"Your head..._traitor_!" said Naruto accusingly while Kakashi stiffened before becoming lax and turning around.

"So you know," said Kakashi simply while Naruto just glared at him with one cold blue eye.

"The Uchiha sold you out in a display of pure arrogance. Even used the Rakiri at the end to make the attempt at killing me. What I want to know is..._why_? You may be an Uchiha ass kisser, but we both know you have a good deal of common sense, and loyalty to the Leaf that should be unquestionable. So why betray that? Why betray the village for the Uchiha that left it?" said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi's eye narrow at him, and knew a nerve had been hit.

"I owe Obito my life. He gave me his Sharingan Eye and entrusted me with the legacy of the Uchiha Clan. After Itachi killed the clan, sparing Sasuke in the process, I took it upon myself to be the boy's big brother, and swore to protect him from harm no matter what," said Kakashi seeing Naruto's eye narrow at him.

"And my _Father_? My _Mother_? They entrusted you with me as well after their deaths. Did their loyalty, their embracement of you as a friend, and as a member of their family mean nothing to you? After your Father died, it was _MY_ Father, who took care of you, and tried to help in keeping the pain from consuming you too. How can you possibly justify that?" said Naruto seeing the Jounin's eye narrow even more and a scowl of fury showed on his masked face.

"It meant _everything_ to me. It always did. But then _she_ became pregnant with _you_! My spot on the Namikaze throne in being their prince was taken from me by your future birth and I was _not_ about to surrender my rightful place by their side," said Kakashi seeing the boy's eye widen at a revelation.

"You sold them out. You told Sasuke's parents, who wanted to do something in order to take control of Konoha after the chaos subsided, even though you didn't know _what_ they would do, and they in turn told Madera where to find my Mother. The Uchiha did his thing, killing the Third's wife, and the ANBU with her before starting the Kyuubi attack. You actually _hoped_ my Father would survive the attack, but my Mother, and myself would be killed by the end result of it. You would then swoop in, acting like the sorrow filled, mourning in loss of losing a surrogate younger brother, and comforted my Father. You intended to whisper sweet words into his ear about this being a sign that only _you_ could truly be his son," said Naruto seeing Kakashi's body shake subtly in rage at being discovered by the Namikaze.

"Your point?" said Kakashi while fighting the urge to reveal his Sharingan and unleash its power on Naruto.

"My point is Hatake, is I don't who is more _pathetic _in terms of jealousy, and hunger for more power that is not their own! You? Or the Uchiha!" said Naruto while Kakashi had heard enough and charged at him, but the Namikaze leaped over the Jounin, and saw the man was not pleased.

"You don't know _anything_! What could you possibly understand? You demonic filth! I told the Sandaime it would be better to kill you and spare us the risk of the prophecy coming true. The old fool felt it was better to control the boy connected to the prophecy instead of removing you from the equation all together. He _knew_ you would change the Elemental Countries with your power and wanted to control it so the Leaf would survive everything that was destroyed by your actions," said Kakashi bringing out a kunai and the Namikaze before him bringing out his HF dagger.

"The old man should have known better in trying to control power that was not meant to be controlled in the first place. Now he's paying the price for his stupidity," said Naruto while Kakashi raised his headband to reveal his Sharingan and was clearly going to go all out in fighting him.

"Monster!" said Kakashi, as he charged forward again, intent on killing Naruto, and the haunting image of the Yondaime's face that appeared in his mind that just scowled.

"At least I'm not lower then trash..._traitor_!" said Naruto, as he ducked under the swing, put the edge of his HF dagger to Kakashi's throat, grabbed the Jounin's free hand reaching for the Namikaze's dagger holding arm, and was spinning the man around horizontally in an almost unnatural way.

When they stopped spinning, Kakashi's head was taken clean off his body, and ending the life of a once great man turned pathetic shadow of his former self. Did Naruto feel some form of regret for killing his Father's former student? No. It had to be done. The Kakashi he had killed was not the man his Father trained years ago and simply put this shell of the real Shinobi out of his misery.

_**"He should have suffered more,"**_ said Kyuubi in giving his own opinion on the matter.

'He'll have plenty of time to suffer while in Hell. The fact I sent him there is more then enough,' thought Naruto while the fox conceded that little fact.

"There are more important matters to attend to now Naruto. Chances are, you will have to fight your fellow Uzumaki in combat, and he's not going to hold back. The same will be needed of you kid. You're going to have to go all out against someone like him if the info we got from that Zetsu indeed accurate about this guy's powers," said Big Boss while the Namikaze nodded mentally.

'I don't want to, but I have to, and if I don't do it...,' thought Naruto knowing what would happen if he did hold back.

"You and everyone you care about will die," said Ocelot while Naruto didn't like the idea of that happening.

'Thanks for not sugarcoating it,' thought Naruto sarcastically with Ocelot grinning at him.

"Just being straight to the point kid. Its what being a solider is all about. Just roll with the punches," said Ocelot seeing Naruto grimace.

"There's more to this little talk Naruto then just talk. If you're going to have even a small remote win against Pein...you need to best all of us in combat," said Frank while Naruto realized what the man was implying.

'You're talking about becoming the new Big Boss,' thought Naruto while his heart was racing faster then ever before.

"Yeah. Its that time kid. Its time to become the new Big Boss and as we told you early on...it is going to be trial by fire," said Big Boss while Naruto sighed heavily.

'And after its over in the event I'm victorious...you will leave my body for the other side,' thought Naruto seeing the three soldiers of the old ways and life smile at him.

"We'll meet again one day Naruto. You're still family to us. When your time is over, we will be there waiting, and ready to embrace you as one of us," said Frank while Naruto just smiled at the thought and would actually wouldn't mind meeting the woman behind them all that helped make two of these three warriors so great.

_**"Don't forget about me," **_said Kyuubi, as he had grown attached to the group, and felt like a part of their family.

"Of course we won't Kyuubi. You are family too. Joy would love to meet you," said Big Boss seeing Kyuubi smiling at the thought of meeting this warrior woman.

'When do we start this?' thought Naruto knowing the sooner they set things in motion the better.

"When you get back to Outer Heaven," said Ocelot seeing Naruto nod in understanding and began heading home.

'I was afraid you would say that,' thought Naruto before he headed for Outer Heaven to prepare himself for the inevitable.

(Akatsuki HQ)

"Zetsu has been captured by the Jinchuriki," said Itachi while the other members of the Akatsuki shifted nervously when sensing Pein's displeasure.

"How did he get caught?" said Pein while staring at the Uchiha before him.

"I don't know. Its possible some kind of detection seal designed to detect unauthorized entry into their 'Outer Heaven' was activated and prevented his escape. Zetsu is unable to travel through water when moving from one location to the next," said Itachi with Pein nodding while thinking things over in his mind.

"Is it true the leader of this 'Outer Heaven' is the Kyuubi Jinchuriki?" said Pein seeing Itachi nod his head.

"Yes. The leader is Namikaze Naruto. Formerly known as Uzumaki Naruto," said Itachi, as he had been told by Jiraiya recently to let Pein be reminded of that fact, and that one of the Jinchuriki they needed was in fact family.

'Uzumaki? Then that means Nagato's target is an...,' thought Konan, as she saw the twitch the man gave, but knew no one else did due to shadowy form of their projections being able to mask any reaction on their faces, and she saw it due to being right next to him.

"Uzumaki? I know the boy had it before the change to Namikaze, but I was under the impression that was done to hide his real identity from the likes of Iwa, and any other enemies the Yondaime may have made?" said Kisame while Itachi shook his head.

"That is true. It was done in part to protect him from the Yondaime's enemies, but being an Uzumaki is also his right by blood on his Mother's side, and is the son of Uzumaki Kushina. She was the previous Kyuubi Jinchuriki before that night when the fox attacked Konoha," said Itachi seeing Pein's second twitch this time.

"What do we do now?" said Sasori curiously knowing that all seven Jinchuriki were in one spot while one Biju remained free in the water with their own success in getting one extracted.

"We must make a plan for attacking their home," said Pein before ending their meeting abruptly and leaving the group to its own thoughts.

"Nagato," said Konan, as she appeared before the _real_ man behind the form of Pein, and saw him deep in thought.

"I'm all right Konan. I was just thinking about what Itachi mentioned about the Kyuubi Jinchuriki," said Pein while Konan just looked at him.

"About him being an Uzumaki. Like you are and thus making the two of you family. Why are you thinking about this now? You knew this long before today," said Konan with Pein still thinking things over.

"That's not the point. The point is that I assumed he was an Uzumaki by title since the Kyuubi Jinchuriki didn't have red hair and the Sandaime Hokage had done it out of some sense of honoring the clan. But now I know he is in fact one by blood," said Pein while letting out a tired sigh.

"You don't know how to handle this. Do we really want to kill him for our goal? The boy is possibly your last living relative," said Konan while Pein realized that was indeed the case and family was the one thing he had always wanted in life.

"Go to Outer Heaven. Inform the Kyuubi Jin-I mean inform my distant _cousin_ that I wish to speak with him," said Pein seeing Konan's eyes widen in surprise.

"To talk? About what?" said Konan seeing Pein look at her and give the woman a smile.

"An alliance between us. Not the other members of the Akatsuki. Just us and a chance to change things even further for the better," said Pein seeing Konan understanding.

"I'll leave at once," said Konan knowing the sooner she reached Outer Heaven the better since a certain masked individual was getting impatient with the organization's progress.

Time was of the essence.

(A/N: YAY! I updated once again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for taking so long with this. Life is complicated at times. Until next time...PEACE!)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8-The Three Trials

Naruto sat in mediation. His body was at rest, but his mind was at work. Inside his very mindscape there was a battle about to take place. _Three_ to be exact. One against Gray Fox, one against Revolver Ocelot, and one against Big Boss himself. Each opponent for Naruto being extremely dangerous. They taught Naruto everything they knew. Every skill, form, stance, etc. Naruto was taught everything they could teach him.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

"Its time Naruto," said Big Boss with Naruto nodding and saw the place change to the scenery that was Rokovoj Bereg.

This place seemed fitting for where the greatest of warriors go to fight their hardest and die without regret.

"I'm ready," Naruto replied simply with Gray Fox and Ocelot appearing while Kurama decided to be a witness to this event from his position off in the distance.

"I'm up first," said Gray Fox, as his having body shifted from when he human to the suit worn during the Shadow Moses incident.

"I'm sorry I have to kill you. Just wanted to say that in advance," said Naruto with Gray Fox cocking his head to the right slightly while letting out an amused electronic chuckle.

_"That's funny Naruto. I was going to say the same thing to you,"_ Gray Fox replied in his electronic voice with both combatants wielding their HF swords in combat ready stances.

Let's give them some space Ocelot. The last thing you want to do is get in their way and lose an arm...again," said Big Boss with Ocelot grumbling while his right arm jerked at the memory of Shadow Moses and how the cyborg ninja sliced off his limb.

"Right," replied Ocelot while giving the two swordsmen their much needed space.

Neither opponent moved. Neither one looked away. This match didn't start until the time was right. It was the way swordsmen fought one on one. A single action would tell them to start and no outside forces aside from that moment mattered. The two warriors never letting their eyes linger away from the other knowing it would mean their doom if they did.

A single flower petal blew in front of them...and the fight was on.

The two had been so coiled in their mirrored sword stances they took a chunk the ground off when running at the other. When their blades clashed, they echoed loudly for all to hear, and sparked when scraping against the other. The two fought viciously against the other, knowing that holding back was not an option, and to do so would mean defeat.

Off on the sidelines, Big Boss along with Revolver Ocelot watched Gray Fox fighting Naruto, and had to admit this was an intense one on one. The training Naruto had done with Gray Fox in the past had always increased each time, but this was not a training session, and the kid gloves (if there any) had come off in this fight. Big Boss even let a flinch happen on his face after Naruto landed a punch to Gray Fox's current metallic facial structure and the spin kick that followed. Gray Fox countered with a kick of his own and this time Ocelot flinched from seeing the hit landed on his shared student.

'Damn! I knew he could hit use a sword with deadly precision, but to hit hard enough to possibly break the enemy's jaw isn't something ignore,' thought Ocelot while Naruto spit out some blood and a few teeth though that wouldn't effect him outside of the Mindscape.

The two continued to fight fiercely, as swords sliced through flesh, metallic skin, and other hits landed between Naruto and Gray Fox. The grassy field around them was at risk of being catching on fire from the sparks they made from the clashes of their swords. In fact, one soon did with the fire spreading around them in a circle like manner with Big Boss looking at Kurama, and seeing the fox had manipulated it to form a ring around the two combatants.

_**"What? Its more dramatic this way!" **_explained Kurama with Big Boss looking at him before they turned to look at the fight between the two swordsmen speed up.

It was coming to an end.

They both had cuts all over. Some deep. Some not. Each bleeding from their wounds in the process. Panting heavily while getting ready for the final strike that would decide the victor of this battle.

_"You have grown so much since we first started training Naruto. You have become the ideal student any teacher would desire,"_ said Gray Fox with Naruto smiling at him, as blood fell down the Namikaze's face from a slash mark from the HF sword his teacher landed on him, and the blood dripping from his body before staining the ground.

"Thanks Gray Fox-sensei. Hearing that from you makes this all worthwhile," said Naruto while seeing the man was also ready for the final strike same as him.

"This is it," said Ocelot with Big Boss nodding since he had seen this happen before back in the day.

A moment went by between the two swordsmen before they sprinted forward, moving faster then the human eye could track, and they seemed to vanish into thin air for over ten solid seconds. They reappeared in the others position, their backs to one another, and a sense of calmness was about them. It was shattered however, as Naruto fell to one knee, and blood spraying everywhere from the deep diagonal cut over his torso. Gray Fox stood still for a second before he fell to his knees and his head fell backwards and rolled off his body.

Naruto...had won!

"We'll take a short break so you can recover Naruto. When you're ready, Ocelot will be your next opponent in the trials, and finally myself after that," Big Boss said to Naruto currently trying to recover (mentally) from the attacks Gray Fox had landed on his body.

"Understood," replied Naruto with the young warrior slowly healing while seeing Ocelot getting ready to fight with his guns he loved so much.

Naruto had seen the man make them appear and explain to him the history of the world before the end of guns and their long forgotten power they had over others. The different models, shapes, sizes, and ammo guns could hold while Ocelot explained about his own personal preference was the revolver based gun.

Hence the spinning action he did with them and how the only draw back was reloading after the chambers for the rounds had become empty. In truth, Ocelot had told Naruto that these weapons were made for short range combat, but were also used as a last resort against enemies when longer ranged guns were either empty, or not in reach to be used.

Naruto would have to remember that when he faced Ocelot.

(Outside Naruto's Mindscape)

How is he?" asked Fu while Hinata was putting a cold wet towel over her husband's head.

Hinata had found Naruto slumped on the ground, his body burning up, and it was clear his body was in pain despite no outward physical appearances. The Hyuuga woman had rushed him to the hospital of Outer Heaven and word spread to the others about their leader being out of commission for an unknown amount of time. Hinata of course knew this was the start of Trials that Naruto had been preparing for since he had told her in advance along with the others though it was clear this trial to become the next Big Boss was taking a lot out of him.

"He's burning up. He's showing signs of being in a vicious battle, but showing no signs on his body getting hurt," answered Hinata while seeing Naruto's body go tense, relax, and then tense again under the strain of being injured in combat while in combat.

"How long is this expected to last? asked Roshi seeing Naruto's face become covered in a heavy sweat.

"I don't know. It all depends on the Trials he's having with his senseis," explained Hinata since she along with the others were told about the three Masters of warfare in Naruto's mind by the Namikaze himself.

"They aren't pulling any punches on him during these Trials, are they?" asked Han seeing Hinata looking uncertain since she didn't know them personally.

"I don't believe they were going to go easy on him from the start. Naruto-kun's teachers each took their own training very seriously no punches were pulled by their teachers," answered Hinata since Naruto had told her quite a bit about them.

"It must be some pretty serious shit to do this to him," stated Tayuya with her seeing him breathing heavier with each passing moment.

"Yes. It must be serious," said Hinata while watching Naruto's body struggle to overcome this and could only imagine what was going on within his mind.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

"You're fast boy! But you can only dodge my bullets for so long," stated Ocelot using every trick in the book he knew regarding his guns to land a hit on Naruto.

He was having an overall success rate of twenty five percent with his bullets hitting Naruto in the leg, his right shoulder, lower torso, and even grazed the side of the neck. Still, Naruto was proving to be one tough bastard, not unlike Big Boss himself when they had their moments, and the kid's skills with the HF sword more then helped compensate for what the trees couldn't in terms of protection. Ocelot would use the age old skill of having his bullets ricochet off the trees, but Naruto used his weapon to block the metal projectiles, and avoiding serious injury...for the most part.

"I only have to dodge or deflect them until you run out," replied Naruto while throwing is voice to be in another place to confuse Ocelot on where to fire.

It worked twice before, but the old war veteran caught onto him, and Naruto knew he would be hesitant to "jump the gun" in firing where the voice came from. So rather then play into Naruto's hands, Ocelot took this time to reload since he was in fact out of ammo from the revolver in his hands, and drew another before putting away the previous one.

"Come on out boy! You can't hide for long. Sooner or later your wounds will get the better of you. If not, the blood trail you're leaving will help me pinpoint your location, and I'll put a bullet between your eyes. Don't think I won't! Its kill or be killed here!" said Ocelot before hearing movement behind him and fired two quick shots to ensure that if one missed the other would hit some form of flesh.

Only to see that he had fired at nothing! He had been played!

"You replaced your footing for a killing stroke," said Naruto before he appeared from Ocelot's right side and cut off the man's right arm at the elbow.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH! NOT AGAIN!" yelled Ocelot, as he clutched his stump, and fell to his knees in pain before looking up to see Naruto preparing for the killing stroke.

And with a quick horizontal slice...Revolver Ocelot was no more.

"Two down. One to go," said Naruto while taking this moment to mourn the loss of his second sensei and say a small quiet apology to the man even though it was a necessary thing.

"Later. Only when you're fully healed to fight me will we have our war," said Big Boss while watching Ocelot's body dissolve away like dust in the wind.

"I'm sorry. I know how close you were to those two," said Naruto with Big Boss nodding slightly and sensed the boy took no pleasure from this.

Killing should never be pleasurable in Big Boss's eyes.

Naruto agreed with him.

(Outside Naruto's Mindscape)

Hinata sighed in relief when Naruto's sudden fever broke and he opened his eyes to see her sitting beside him. The Namikaze smiled at Hinata and she did the same while the other women in the room glared at him for making them worry so much.

"Hey Hinata-chan," said Naruto with a sore throat for a voice before Hinata gave him some water.

"I'm glad you're awake Naruto-kun. Are the three Trials over?" asked Hinata with Naruto shaking his head no.

"You baka! You had us worried. If you weren't taking this dumbass Trials I'd kick you in the balls," said Anko while shaking her fist at him.

"I'll keep that in mind in the future Anko-chan. As to your answer Hinata-chan, I have one more to go, and its against Big Boss himself," answered Naruto with Hinata looking a tad worried since she had heard him talk about Big Boss being the Grand Master of sorts between the three of them.

"The leader of the trio," said Hinata with Naruto nodding his head and he saw her worried expression.

"Yeah. This is just small reprieve until we do battle," answered Naruto though his tone of voice told everyone in the room he was ready.

"Bring him down Naruto-sama," said Roshi with Han nodding.

"We have faith in you being the victor of this outcome," stated Han with Naruto smirking at the two.

"You better not lose Naruto or you're going to deal with me afterwards," stated Anko with Naruto letting out a weak chuckle.

"You always did know what to say to motivate me Anko-chan," replied Naruto before he closed his eyes and went back to the battlefield awaiting him.

"Damn right I do," said Anko with a grin on her face.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

"Are you ready?" asked Big Boss with Naruto nodding.

They were both unarmed, but that was the whole point of this final battle. This wasn't a fight involving guns, swords, running, shooting, stabbing, slicing, or striking down your enemy. This was a fight using only your arms, legs, feet, hands, and basically your body to its fully potential...as a living weapon.

"Bring it," replied Naruto, as the two were now in CQC stance, and both were determined to come out of this the victor.

Even though there could be only one winner in this.

"I won't hold back," stated Big Boss with Naruto nodding while a smirk appeared on his face.

"You wouldn't be much of a sensei if you did," answered Naruto with Big Boss nodding in agreement.

With the talking over, the two engaged in hand to hand combat, and Kurama just watched them fight with great interest. Since the three Masters of Warfare came into his vessel's life, Kurama had come to respect them, and Naruto to the extent where he told the boy his true name. Naruto had earned his respect for putting up with years of abuse, the lies, and fighting to bring about some form of peace to the Elemental Countries.

And killing one of the few Uchiha left in the world didn't hurt either.

The two fighters continued their seemingly never-ending battle, which almost looked like a dance of sorts between them, and was truly a remarkable display of skill. Each got in a few hits to the ribs, face, and the lower back. Big Boss was clearly using his countless years of experience to his advantage while Naruto was using his greater abundance of energy and agility to counter this. At the rate they were fighting in the flowery white petal laced field, things could go either way, and Kurama honestly thought this was battle was going to be close.

Battles between a teacher and student usually were if the student was strong enough.

'He's gotten better,' thought Big Boss while trying to land hits, block those Naruto tried to land on him, or counter with moves of his own.

'Damn it! I can barely landed a hit. He knows every block, move, _and _counter move I'll make against him. I need to outsmart Big Boss or else I'll tire myself out and he'll be able to counter me!' thought Naruto, as he was finding few openings, and it would only be a matter of time before Big Boss went on the offensive against him.

Leaping back, Naruto decided to let Big Boss make the next move since the Namikaze's own offense wasn't working, and see what the man would do with this change. Within seconds of going defensive, Big Boss went on the offensive, and began to push against Naruto with everything he had. With each passing second, Big Boss was gaining ground, and Naruto was losing his footing from his action to go defensive.

"Come on Naruto! I trained you to endure this kind of punishment with your eyes closed. So...endure it!" exclaimed Big Boss landing several hits to the younger man's face and aimed to hit him with a spin kick.

Before Naruto caught the leg and quickly broke it with a hard elbow where the kneecap was located before landing a solid right to Big Boss's face. The man hobbled back while nursing his jaw and realized he had moved to quickly on the offensive since believing Naruto's decision to go defensive meant his student was low on energy. He played his hand too soon and now Naruto had landed a hit which left Big Boss open to an assault by the blonde.

_**"Clever move kit. A good strategy if I ever saw one,"**_ said Kurama though it was more to himself while seeing Naruto take full advantage of the opening and began land more hits on Big Boss with each passing moment.

Naruto continued attacking Big Boss without mercy. He knew that any hesitation on his part would give Big Boss a chance to defend himself. Deep down though, Naruto wanted to stop, his mind telling him this was Big Boss he was hurting, and should stop this. His sensei, friend, advisor, comrade, and surrogate Father figure was being pummeled by his own hands! But Naruto couldn't stop. In a fight to the death like this, you don't stop until your opponent is dead, or you are at the enemy's hands.

Before Naruto knew it, he was behind Big Boss, his arm wrapped around the man's neck, and was trying to break it. Big Boss himself was trying to throw Naruto off of him, but the beating his body had taken was too much, and for a moment...he thought The Boss was standing barely 10 feet from him.

_Its time Jack. Time to come back to me. We're all waiting for you._

'I'm coming Joy. Soon we can be a family again,' thought Big Boss, as he closed his eyes while accepting his soon to be death, and stopped fighting Naruto's attempt to kill him.

With a loud "_SNAP!_" that echoed throughout the field of battle, Naruto had successfully killed Big Boss, and completed the preverbal passing of the torch. Within seconds of letting the dead man's body fall to the ground, Naruto realized what he had done, and the horror behind his achievement made him feel sick. In a way, these three Trials made him almost as bad as a member of the Uchiha Clan killing his best friend for the next stage of the Sharingan, or Orochimaru killing his former sensei.

"I'm not worthy of friendship," stated Naruto with tears running down his face, as he saw the body of Big Boss dissolve like the others, and looked at Kurama to see the fox look back at him with sorrow.

_**"You are better then the Uchiha Clan and Orochimaru kit. Unlike them, you feel the grief, and the guilt that comes from the death of those you care about. You do not do it for power or revenge against them. You did it because that was how they wanted things to happen. These Trials were to the death and they knew this. They gave it everything they had to push you beyond your limitations and died knowing you had succeeded them in everything they taught you,"**_ explained Kurama with Naruto nodding since that was just like them.

"You think I'll see them again one day?" asked Naruto with Kurama nodding.

_**"You are their family kit. When the time comes to pass on...they will await you with open arms,"**_ answered Kurama with Naruto smiling now with tears running down his face.

"Thanks Kurama," said Naruto with the fox smirking at him.

_**"Any time kit. Any time,"**_ replied Kurama while the warrior left his Mindscape for the outside world.

(Outside World)

"Naruto-kun!" exclaimed Hinata, as she saw Naruto open his eyes, or rather his right eye since the left one was covered by the eye patch.

"Hi Hinata-chan," said Naruto with a smile though it felt empty to him.

"The Trials are over, aren't they? asked Hinata, but she saw in his eye that they were, and the death of each teacher hurt him.

"Yeah. They're now officially over. I am now worthy of the title..._Big Boss_!" answered Naruto with Hinata nodding while her smile was that of a gentle yet sad smile when hearing of the loss Naruto just suffered.

"I'll let everyone know. We're all glad to see you passed the Trials...Big Boss," said Han before he left the room with Roshi giving Naruto a respectful nod.

"And so it begins," stated Naruto though it was more to himself then to the others in the room.

"Do you want to be alone Naruto-kun?" asked Anko, who decided her lover needed a more compassionate version of herself, and not the crazy psycho everyone else had come to know outside of the family.

"No. I don't want to be alone. Stay with me please," replied Naruto, his voice pleading with them to stay him, and be his rock against this time of grief.

After hearing the pain that was there, Hinata, Anko, and the other girls in the room were now holding onto him while helping the man deal with this painful loss.

(Outer Heaven HQ-Naruto's Office)

Naruto sat at his desk and looking at some recent reports regarding the current state of the Elemental Countries. The world was stabilizing. Slowly of course. But it was definitely heading in the right direction. Taking out a cigar, which he learned how to make during his time with Big Boss teaching him, the now proclaimed Big Boss of Outer Heaven, and the Elemental Countries lit the object before taking a deep intact with the smoke leaving a few moments later out the air vent. His wives didn't like him smoking around them and he loved each one too much to let the smell of these ruin their happy moods.

Or when they are in _THE_ mood.

These were his "I'm thinking deeply while working" cigars that took the stress out of life and were one of the few private joys he had when working.

"You are a hard man to get a hold of Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto," said Konan after she appeared once several hundred pieces of paper came together and formed the blue haired woman.

"Considering my enemies and assassins trying to kill me to make a name for themselves I would think you of all people would understand why...Konan of the Akatsuki," replied Naruto while blowing smoke from his cigar out of his mouth.

"So you know who I am," Konan shot back with Naruto looking at her with his one eye.

"You would be surprised on just who is spying on your group. Though something tells me you already know who it is," said Naruto with Konan nodding.

"That's correct. The spy's name is Uchiha Itachi. He reports to Jiraiya of the Sannin, who reports to the Hokage of Konoha, and the woman in turn relays the information to you," explained Konan with Naruto smirking.

"I'm impressed. How long have you known? Or rather...have you always known?" asked Naruto seeing Konan gauging him carefully.

"We've known since he first started. While Itachi maybe strong, we felt his killing of the entire clan to be...questionable. There should have been more then one survivor that night and no general alarm had been raised when the killing started. There was also the fact that certain pieces of information was only known to the Akatsuki's most highest ranked members and was given to Konoha was also key to what we knew to be true," explained Konan while Naruto just nodded his head while he digested this information.

"Do you think Jiraiya knew?" asked Naruto with Konan thinking for a moment.

"We suspected at some point that he did, but didn't care to do anything about it, and just intended to have Itachi keep spying on us until his usefulness ran out. The Uchiha is a wanted man after all and could not find sanctuary anywhere in the world for what he is accused of doing," answered Konan while seeing Naruto narrow his eye at her.

"So if Konoha or another Shinobi village's forces don't kill him...the Akatsuki would in their place. You could make up anything you wanted and no one could dispute. Konoha couldn't since they would have to explain their own hand in Itachi killing the Uchiha Clan. Yes I know the _truth_ about that night just as I'm sure you do. Its not surprising when you think about it," explained Naruto with Konan nodding since she along with Pein knew the truth about that night.

"Yes. That is indeed correct. However, the reason I am here is not to talk about Uchiha spies, or their handlers that pass along the gathered information. I am here to talk about you...and Pein," replied Konan with Naruto narrowing his eyes again.

"I see. And what does Pein want? My surrender? The surrender of every Jinchuriki here? The surrender of the three-tailed Biju that was once in the previous Mizukage of Mist and has agreed to guard our shores? The next words you speak Konan-san may very well be your last," said Naruto with his cigar in his right hand in-between his index and middle fingers.

"No. He wants an alliance between you and him," answered Konan with Naruto looking at her with suspicion and surprise showing in his eyes.

"Isn't it a little..._counterproductive_ for the Akatsuki organization to form an alliance with Outer Heaven?" asked Naruto with Konan shaking her head.

"Not with the Akatsuki. With him. With Pein," countered Konan with Naruto looking even more suspicious now at her.

"And why would I wish to ally myself with the one leading an organization seeking to extract all nine of the Biju from their Jinchuriki. If I agreed, it would mean I'm betraying the others, and I will tell you right now I would sooner die!" stated Naruto with a great deal of conviction in his voice that told Konan he would die before betraying the other Jinchuriki.

"What if I told you that by allying with Pein, you can take down the Akatsuki? That you would gain a long lost family member from your Mother's side of the family?" asked Konan with Naruto's eyes widening before they narrowed dangerously.

As in "I'm going to kill you if I suspect something foul with your choice of words" kind of dangerously.

"You are holding a member of the Uzumaki Clan hostage?" asked Naruto while not really caring about the organization or taking it down.

Family was more important.

"No. The member of the Uzumaki Clan I'm speaking about is Pein himself. His real name is...Uzumaki Nagato. He is from Ame like myself. We were found by Jiraiya many years ago and he trained us in the Shinobi Arts to the point where we could defend ourselves," explained Konan before telling Naruto how things came to be regarding the Akatsuki organization and the man influencing things from the shadows as the _true _leader of the organization.

"I see. Did Jiraiya know Nagato is an Uzumaki?" asked Naruto with Konan nodding.

"He knew. Jiraiya would not be as skilled a Shinobi if he didn't know or suspect that Nagato was a lost member of the Uzumaki Clan," replied Konan with Naruto seething in anger at the Sannin being so _stupid_ in letting a member of the Uzumaki Clan be left alone after some minor training to survive.

He should have taken Nagato, Konan, and even Yahiko to Konoha where they could have grown up with better lives. Unless...!

"He did it on purpose," stated Naruto with Konan frowning at him.

"I don't understand," said Konan with Naruto letting out a sigh.

"Jiraiya didn't take Nagato with him because you and your other friend Yahiko would have gone too. If Nagato grew up in Konoha with his bloodline, he could have possibly prevented this _Tobi_ character from coming after my Mother, and she would have had another Uzumaki aside from herself to help not feel so alone. He couldn't risk there being another Uzumaki outside of my Mother and made sure she never knew about Nagato in the slightest," explained Naruto with Konan's eyes widening at the thought.

'How many people could have become our friends? How would things have turned out had we been raised in Konoha? Would Nagato gotten along with Kushina? Would he have been able to stop Tobi or stop the Kyuubi from getting out of her the night Naruto was born?' thought Konan with so many questions and possibilities opening up to her.

"His usefulness to Konoha is now over. I have put up with the man long enough. Konan! Do you swear to me that this alliance between myself and Nagato is the genuine thing?" asked Naruto with Konan nodding.

"I swear it. Nagato told me to see you about this alliance and to discuss the matter of dealing with the members of the Akatsuki before focusing on Tobi. He is very powerful and cannot be taken lightly," answered Konan with Naruto smirking at her.

"Tell Nagato I've got his back when it comes to liquidating the Akatsuki organization and if everything turns out the way I hope...he's got himself a long lost family member that will never betray him to anyone," explained Naruto seeing Konan nod before she turned into multiple stacks of paper and flew out the nearby window.

The only thing indicating she was even in Naruto's Office was the origami crane she left on his desk.

(A/N: YAY! A nice update after a long hiatus. Can you blame me? No! Well...maybe you can since I've been doing other stuff. My muse in my head has been running around and I can't pin him down to write when I want to write. Make no mistake I will finish all fics that have yet to be finished and then some. Until next time...PEACE!)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9-Peace at Last

Naruto stared at the origami crane for a second before picking it up and thought about what Konan told him. He knew Pein was an Uzumaki before Konan confirmed it for him, but he didn't want her to know that he knew that fact, and wanted things to be confirmed by his supposed enemy. There was no lying in Konan and Naruto knew that she loved the tormented Uzumaki man behind the image of Pein. The Namikaze thought about what had happened to the poor man and what could have been if Jiraiya had not been such a fearful moron in letting someone like Nagato not be part of Konoha. To give Nagato the feeling of family with the long lost member of the Uzumaki Clan that was Kushina and Naruto's Mother being there. Naruto knew so many possibilities from this action had been closed off and it upset the man how Jiraiya had screwed his family over that far back.

"Roshi! Han! Please come into my office," said Naruto into the communication system on his desk and within a few moments before his two fellow Jinchuriki came in.

"Something wrong Big Boss?" asked Roshi with both Han and himself sitting down in chairs before the leader of Outer Heaven.

"I need your honest opinion about this dilemma I'm in. I can't go to Fu, Gaara, or Yugito because they doesn't have enough experience. Killer Bee will just rap poorly to the point where I'll have a strong desire to become violent," explained Naruto with of his fellow Jinchuriki looking at each other and then back at him.

"What's the problem?" asked Han before Naruto explained to them about Pein seeking to break away from the Akatsuki with an alliance with Naruto and help Outer Heaven win against the organization by liquidating it.

"Part of me wants to keep Jiraiya alive a little bit longer to help make sure the Akatsuki organization become completely removed. However, I'm suspicious of Jiraiya possibly betraying us, and letting a few within the organization slip through the cracks. Should I have him removed from play sooner or later?" asked Naruto with Han and Roshi thinking over what he just told them.

"He's a threat to everyone Big Boss. With his incredible knowledge of the Sealing Arts, his Sage Mode, and spy network...Jiraiya of the Sannin could be a threat to us when this war with the Akatsuki is over. He must be removed," answered Han with Naruto nodding at his response and then looking to Roshi for his opinion.

"Jiraiya of the Sannin is a strong individual. If we remove him now, we risk a key figure granting us victory over the Akatsuki. We also risk the organization getting bolder with the Sannin removed before we can crush them. Still...he is a threat to us and to not even acknowledge it would be foolish," answered Roshi with Naruto nodding in agreement since Jiraiya _still_ had value to the fight against the Akatsuki.

"One for Jiraiya living and the other for his death. Both of you have presented reasonable facts for each side with Roshi even admitting that Jiraiya's still a threat regardless if his value as an ally is there. I know for a fact that Pein wishes to leave the Akatsuki. I know he is an Uzumaki. I know he possibly more powerful then Jiraiya and possesses the Rinnegan Eyes. Jiraiya's loyalty in this war has long since been put into question, as he has leaked information to his spy in the Akatsuki about Outer Heaven, and with the explicit intent of hurting us. In my eyes, I find the trade off of Jiraiya of the Sannin dying for Uzumaki Nagato, and his partner Konan joining us is too good an offer to pass up," said Naruto with the two nodding in agreement.

"Will the others be told about this?" asked Roshi with Naruto shaking his head no.

"The fewer people who know about this decision the better. I hate keeping the others in the dark, but they might not understand, or disagree with the decision. However, I will change that part of the plan if you feel I should let them know," explained Naruto with the two looking at each other for a moment.

"We shouldn't keep this from them. If we keep secrets from them, they will distrust us, and you even more," said Roshi with Han nodding in agreement.

"Very true. Still, you can understand why I'm favoring the idea of keeping them out of this situation?" asked Naruto with Han and Roshi nodding.

"We do. All the same, keeping secrets from them is not healthy, and while you are the leader of Outer Heaven...we all deserve to be trusted to know about every decision you make. If there is anyone, who disagrees with yours decision, they will make it known, and stated their reasons behind the choice," answered Roshi with Naruto nodding and finding the man's words held a great deal of weight to them.

"Again you make a valid point. I don't want to keep secrets from them either. It makes me almost as bad as the Sandaime Hokage or Jiraiya of the Sannin," said Naruto with Han and Roshi smiling since they felt telling the others about this was the wisest course of action regarding his decision.

"You are a good leader Big Boss," said Han with Naruto smirking at him.

"That's only because I have people like you two and the others to help me in that regard," replied Naruto with the two smirking back.

(Konoha-Days Later)

"Hey Tsunade-hime! How is everything?" asked Jiraiya with Tsunade looking over some of her paperwork and a message from Naruto.

"Everything is fine on my end of things Jiraiya. Though I can't say the same for you right now," answered Tsunade with Jiraiya frowning before he saw her make hand signs and saw the room went into lockdown.

Something only a Hokage could do when involved in having a top secret meeting at the highest level, for some personal alone time after doing so much paperwork, _OR_ (in some extreme cases)...kill someone without them being allowed to escape. Jiraiya wondered if one of his fantasies was going to come true between himself and Tsunade while in this very office. _However_, he saw the eyes the woman had on him, and knew that the woman's intentions for him had nothing to do with sexual pleasure of the flesh.

"Your value in this war with the Akatsuki is not longer high Jiraiya of the Sannin," stated Naruto after appearing from the shadows of the room with his HF sword drawn.

"I see. So you're cashing me out huh?" asked Jiraiya while seeing Naruto and Tsunade nod.

"Konan helped confirmed what we already knew. She and Nagato want to liquidate the Akatsuki and join what is left of the Uzumaki Clan in Outer Heaven," answered Naruto while Jiraiya's eyes widened slightly at hearing the two names from the past.

"I haven't heard those names in years. So they are alive," stated Jiraiya while Tsunade just scowled at him.

"You left a member of the Uzumaki Clan that place. You could have taken them with you back to Konoha. You just left them there knowing one of them was family to Kushina!" exclaimed Tsunade passionately now with Jiraiya looking at her with deadly serious eyes.

"What do you want me to say Tsunade? That I'm sorry? That I should have just taken him and the others with me? Well I'm sorry to disappoint you because I'm _NOT_ going to say I'm sorry. Sure Nagato was of Uzumaki blood, but we already had one in Kushina, and didn't need another, or those other two orphans with him. Kushina needed to be loyal to Konoha. Not to her nearly dead clan! She would have taken off to find him or brought him here. If that happened, she would have been allowed to rebuild her clan, and keep the Kyuubi within it all within the clan. It was too great a risk after what happened with the Uchiha Clan and Madara! Sarutobi-sensei thought so too, which was why he ordered me to keep my mouth shut to Kushina, and Minato to a lesser extent. I had to do what needed to be done in terms controlling Kushina and preventing Kyuubi from leaving Konoha in the event the woman decided to leave to find any other stray Uzumaki Clan members," explained Jiraiya with Tsunade seething at his words while Naruto watched him carefully with calculating eyes.

"And Karin's parents? They were Uzumaki too. They died in a fire caused by an invasion. She had their journal telling of how they contacted Konoha about Kushina and asking to secretly come join the village. They grew concerned when Konoha didn't answer back with a response when they knew it would reach the village," said Naruto with Jiraiya growling slightly while seeing Tsunade looking re.

"I took it to the Sandaime. It was just Months before his retirement and weeks before my former teammate's betrayal. Like with Nagato, he didn't want any remaining survivors of the Uzumaki Clan to pop up, and become a powerful force within Konoha. We needed to control the power of Kyuubi and we wouldn't be able to do that if Kushina had members of the Uzumaki Clan alive to support her," explained Jiraiya with Tsunade looking livid when hearing that.

"So screw the Uzumaki Clan in the name of power and control. Allies mean nothing to you like it did the old man. Use them until they have nothing left to give and throw them away without so much as a thank you," stated Naruto with Jiraiya scowling at him.

"Its the way of the world. Friendships between people in high places does not exist. Only politics and the value of being 'friends' with those in high places is what counts. I lost any and all desire to help out my friends after everything I've gone through. Friendships with others is an archaic concept that shouldn't be embraced in this day and age. If you were smart like me, then you would accept this too, and do the same," explained Jiraiya with Naruto letting out small hollow chuckle.

"Says the fool who only thinks only with his tiny dick!" said Naruto with Jiraiya seething at the insult.

"Shut your mouth boy. Your Father gave me far more respect," Jiraiya shot back with Naruto scoffing at him.

"I doubt it. Between your lecherous ways and leeching off people, its enough to make anyone want to kick your ass," replied Naruto with Jiraiya looking furious at him.

"I trained your Father to be the best and he surpassed my expectation. _You_! You went against the principles of village, disrespected my sensei, dishonored your family, and speak of things you don't understand," Jiraiya shot back.

"And what did you train me, his only son mind you, in when it comes to the Shinobi Arts you're so proud of? Nothing! _Nothing_! You disrespected my Father. You betrayed the very principles of this village, and as for your so called sensei...fuck him," Naruto said with Jiraiya charging at him with the intent to kill.

"Die you damn brat!" exclaimed Jiraiya, as he had enough of Naruto's words, and hurtful remarks against him for his actions.

Naruto dodged the open palm with the Rasengan in it. Naruto knew the Sannin was going for a quick kill. The sooner Jiraiya had taken him down, the better it was in his warped mind. Naruto knew that Jiraiya knew that Tsunade would try to stop him within moments of his actions in fighting their shared Godson. Naruto himself got under Jiraiya's guard, as he smashed his elbow into the Sannin's ribs, and hit the man in the face with the butt of the HF sword's hilt. It was followed up with a knee to Jiraiya's chin, then an open palm to the Sannin's face while leaping over him with that momentum, and brought the HF sword down for the death blow.

Only for Jiraiya to substitute with a piece of furniture at the last moment.

"You were so blinded by grief, fear, and maybe even the prospect of power of the fox in my gut back when I was younger. Its hard to imagine the great Jiraiya of the Sannin being reduced to this weak _thing_ I see before me. I honestly don't know who is more pathetic in my eyes. You? Danzo? Orochimaru? Hiruzen? Or maybe its this Tobi character that leads the Akatsuki organization from the shadows?" questioned Naruto with Jiraiya sneering at him with a bloody face before spitting some of it out of his mouth.

"You shut your mouth brat!" exclaimed Jiraiya before being hit by Tsunade in the face and sent him into the wall.

"How about I shut your mouth for you Jiraiya?" asked Tsunade after feeling the jaw of her former teammate's being shattered.

"Damn you. _Both of you_!" mumbled Jiraiya with his mouth spewing blood and teeth with a massive bruise on the side of his face where Tsunade's fist hit him.

"Damn us? No dam _you_! Damn you Jiraiya of the Sannin. One of the Legendary Three who fought Salamander Hanzo. One of the three students taught by the Sandaime Hokage himself. Sensei of the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha. _Friend_ of my _Father_!" exclaimed Naruto with the tip of his HF sword pressing against Jiraiya's neck.

"You forgot to mention that I'm your _Godfather_! You can't do this to me! It goes against the Uzumaki Clan way to kill off family!" Jiraiya shot back though it was a bit difficult with blood falling out of his mouth like a waterfall.

"You were never a part of my family in any sense Jiraiya. You left me to fight for myself and made sure those that were meant to take care of me never did. Why should I consider you a part of my family when you don't deserve that honor?" asked Naruto while bringing his HF sword up to slice the man clean in two at the skull.

"Because the Yondaime was _MY SON_!" answered Jiraiya much to the shock of the two in front of him.

"Explain! Or at least try to with the way your mouth is right now," commanded Tsunade while Naruto still kept his sword raised to strike the Sannin down.

"Minato's Mother was a..._good friend_ of mine I knew since the Academy. She was a Shinobi of average potential from what I saw of her abilities when there. She became what you might consider to be a 'friend with benefits' I came to embrace after so many strike outs in getting a date with Tsunade," explained Jiraiya with the Hokage scoffing at him.

"You mean striking out in successfully getting into my pants!" Tsunade shot back with Jiraiya shrugging like he didn't care at this point.

"Whatever. The point is, she felt pity on me one day after a harsh form of rejection from _you_, and one thing led to another. Soon after, we would hook up in secret after one, or both of us had a long tiring mission. We would joke, laugh, and she'd occasionally hit me for being a pervert like you. But when we were in the mood, she was every bit the pervert I was, and even suggested I go into writing to become a great author on the side. After she got pregnant from our last..._encounter_ together, her family disowned her, and she died in the hospital giving birth to Minato. They didn't want anything to do with him so he went to the orphanage," explained Jiraiya with Naruto narrowing his one seeable eye at him.

"Why didn't you take care of him? Claim to be the Father?" asked Naruto with Jiraiya just scoffing.

"Because I didn't love him like a son. As student yes! What I had between him and his Mother was strictly friendship with a side of physical lust. I would train Minato as his sensei, but I would _NOT _raise that boy as my son, and we are all better off for it!" Jiraiya said before Tsunade grabbed his face and slammed him into the wall.

"You really are a piece of shit. I'm glad I turned you down for every date you asked me out on. I can only shudder to think what would happen if I had died after being knocked up and having your child!" exclaimed Tsunade before throwing the man back onto the ground.

"What happened to my Grandmother's parents?" asked Naruto with Jiraiya looking away from him.

"He asked you a question Jiraiya. Answer it! Answer it right now or I'll make you wish you had the first time around," Tsunade said while cracking her knuckles.

"I have nothing to say on the matter," replied Jiraiya before being hit right in the face again.

"Tell us!" exclaimed Tsunade with Jiraiya being silent and the woman began to wail on him until Naruto put a hand on her shoulder.

"Stop. I know what happened to them," said Naruto simply with Tsunade looking at him in surprise.

"What? How?" question Tsunade with Naruto just looking down at the bloodied body of his Godfather and now Grandfather.

"From his silence alone I know the answer. He had them killed," said Naruto simply with Jiraiya tensing with what parts of his body still could.

"What? Why would he do that?" asked Tsunade looking from Naruto to Jiraiya and then back at her Godson.

"Because he could. The Sandaime helped you do it, did he? He made all the arrangements for their death to happen. Covered it up without anyone being the wiser. He cemented your undying loyalty with this action. He scratched your back over this problem and you scratched his when called for on this matter. This happened repeatedly since the proof of your infidelity was walking around to one day rise up through the Shinobi ranks until he became Yondaime Hokage. Your son became the leader of the Leaf village and you did not even tell him the truth before his death that night of my birth. All there was between the two of you was the bond of teacher and student. Not that of a Father and a son. You were ashamed despite the greatness of your son. You feared what would happen if people knew, even after my Father was old enough to understand, and possibly be forgiving of your actions," answered Naruto with Tsunade looking hatefully at Jiraiya on the ground with a disfigured face scowling at her.

"Some _Father_! Some _Grandfather_!" exclaimed Tsunade before kicking Jiraiya in the ribs for each emphasized word.

"He's no Father of my Father. He's no Grandfather of _mine_!" stated Naruto before moving Tsunade away, put his foot on Jiraiya's neck, and stabbed the man with his HF sword in the temple region.

"What now?" asked Tsunade with Naruto removing his weapon, flicking the blood, and brains off of it before sheathing the HF sword.

"Now we comes the beginning of the end for the Akatsuki," answered Naruto coldly.

(Akatsuki HQ-2 Weeks Later)

Tobi knew something was wrong. He could sense something was off the entire _week_! It felt like his enemies were closing in on him. The entire base was quiet. Too quiet! The other remaining members of the Akatsuki were nowhere to be found. The statue holding the _one _Biju they had acquired was gone and wondered what Pein was up to with Konan? Normally, the two of them talked strategy, but recently things between the two had gotten put to a complete standstill, and Tobi suspected their partnership was at an end.

"Looking for someone?" asked Naruto, as he appeared from the shadows, and stared at the man proclaiming himself to be Uchiha Madara.

How pathetic!

"You! How did you get in here?" demanded Tobi since he wasn't expecting the man with the title of "The Big Boss" of Outer Heaven to be here.

Not yet anyway and that was only to extract the Kyuubi from the man's body.

"How indeed," answered Naruto with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Pein," Tobi said simply like it was the most obvious answer.

"And Itachi. You really should have killed him sooner. Once I told him about Jiraiya's death and the offer to join Outer Heaven...well the man simply had no reason to stay!" said Naruto with Tobi's one eye narrowing at him.

"And Pein?" asked Tobi with Naruto smirking at him.

"_Uzumaki Nagato _is family. Family does not betray family. You would know that if you still had any. Do you still have any or have you just forgotten?" asked Naruto seeing Tobi tilt his head slightly to the right.

"I'm a nobody. I've forgotten what my true name was long ago. Along with any family I may have had before now," answered Tobi with Naruto shaking his head.

"Is that why you created the Moon Eye Plan? To become a God and detach yourself from the rest of humanity? With no family, friends, or any basic regret for your past actions, it would be easy for you to just rule over all of us while controlling our lives without any form of sympathy for those you hurt. How can you hurt others and not feel anything? Are you that empty inside? Are you so soulless that you would kill countless people just to rule over and dictate the lives of many more without caring?" asked Naruto with Tobi narrowing his Sharingan Eye at him.

"You don't know anything boy!" exclaimed Tobi with Naruto just staring back.

"I know enough to know you are spiteful man. A spiteful man, who had nothing in life growing up, and wants what others have. You hate that people have what you don't. You can't stand it. It eats you up inside. People have family, friends, and real names that aren't taken from someone else long dead. You have nothing, but want everything, and yet don't know what to do with it. Hence why you want the Moon Eye Plan to succeed. You will have complete control over their lives, their wants, their happiness, and just to spite them all...you'd rip it all away from the very people you intend over. You are a spiteful child in man's body with a God complex," stated Naruto with Tobi looking pissed off despite the mask covering his face.

"And what about you boy? After all the things you've done against Konoha and taking all of the Jinchuriki away from the Shinobi village. How are you any different from me and what I've done Kyuubi Jinchuriki?" shot back Tobi with Naruto smirking.

"How am I different? I'm different because I have people I care about. I have loved ones, family, friends, and a name I am proud to call my own with a few other names rightfully earned. I don't drain Jinchuriki of the Biju to put into a statue and then throw away the dead bodies like they were trash. I don't claim to be someone I'm not. I didn't manipulate a Mizukage with the Sharingan Eye to start the Bloodline Civil War in Mist. I didn't try to interfere with a pregnancy of a female Jinchuriki and then hold a minute old child in my arms with the body of the infant being covered with explosive tags. I didn't rip the Kyuubi out of the woman and use my Sharingan Eye to make the fox go on a rampage. Do you want me to keep going? Because I can!" said Naruto with Tobi growling at him.

"Enough! I'm sick of you and your actions against me. You have denied my right to rule over these mindless insects. They have no direction! They have no stability! I could give it to them. I still can!" exclaimed Tobi with Naruto shaking his head.

"You can't even remember your true name. How can you give them direction or stability if you can't even do that?" asked Naruto with Tobi removing his mask to reveal the dark and slightly gray haired man with a face that looked like an Uchiha glaring at him.

"Simple. I am an Uchiha," said Tobi with Naruto tilting his head slightly to the right.

"You don't remember your real name, but you know you're an Uchiha?" asked Naruto while seeing Tobi smirked at him.

"My Sharingan Eyes are proof of it," explained Tobi with Naruto shaking his head.

"Maybe you are an Uchiha. But who is to say they weren't implanted and you were able to return them to normal? Especially if that room filled with their eyes I saw is any kind of indication. You have no real proof that you are an Uchiha. I can even think of several ways to discredit the claim of you being an Uchiha. So in truth...you have no real way to actually prove you're an Uchiha," Naruto simply said with Tobi looking livid at hearing that horrible truth.

"Shut up!" exclaimed Tobi with Naruto laughing at him.

"Or what? Is little Tobi going to cry? Is he going to throw a temper tantrum. Do you want a bottle little baby?" asked Naruto mockingly with Tobi charging him, sword drawn, and the two began to slug it out via Kenjutsu.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you after I rip Kyuubi out of your body and make him attack Outer Heaven. I'll destroy all you love and cherish. I'll make everyone you care about die slow agonizing deaths and make them know how you died by my hands!" exclaimed Tobi, as he blocked Naruto's HF sword, and dodged several slash attempts with the HF dagger.

"You have to defeat me first Tobi-teme!" Naruto countered, as he outmaneuvered Tobi's sword strikes, and landed a kick to the man's ribs.

'What? He hit me? That's not possible. My Sharingan Eyes should be preventing that,' thought Tobi while seeing Naruto smirking at him.

"Surprised I hit you? You shouldn't be considering my new friends told me of your little dimensional rift you cause to travel and prevent being hit. While you were away doing some Akatsuki related business, Nagato along with Konan, and myself put seals all over the place this underground shithole you call a base to neutralize all forms of dimensional shifting. Meaning that when you get hit...you're going to get hit _hard_!" explained Naruto with Tobi looking even more pissed off.

"Die!" exclaimed Tobi, as he couldn't use Jutsus because Naruto was doing everything in his power to keep the distance between them short, and any attempt of using a Jutsu at this point would result in getting fatally injured.

The two fought viciously against one another with the fight with the battle going from Kenjutsu to Taijutsu when both knocked their enemy's weapons away. Tobi was finding this situation was not to his liking, as he found himself once more being pushed back by Naruto, and his skills with CQC. Tobi had read the report on Naruto's skills and had been trying to devise a means to counter them all. Sadly, the timing of his enemy being here was not expected, and didn't expect Pein to surrender the Akatsuki to his kin on a silver platter.

A hard spin kick to the head sent Tobi flying back and hitting the ground just as hard.

"You are so weak its pathetic. Nagato should have killed you years ago," stated Naruto while walking toward the downed and _supposed _Uchiha.

"Weak? Weak! How can I be weak when I have the power to be any place I want in mere moments. I have the power to influence the Biju to go on a rampage!" exclaimed Tobi with Naruto letting out a chuckle.

"You also have the power to be a whiny bitch, but that's beside the point right now. What I'm referring to is you being so weak when fighting me right now. You have no one to fight for. You have no true strength. You don't fight for anyone except yourself and that only gets you so far," explained Naruto before dodging Tobi's sudden move to punch him, then the follow up attempt, and several other fists from the shadowy leader of the now destroyed Akatsuki.

Until Naruto caught the fist aiming for his face, his eyes glaring at Tobi (even though one of them was being blocked by the eye patch), and proceeded to painfully break the hand at the wrist. Tobi fought back the urge to scream out in pain before Naruto stuck the arm of the now broken wrist and badly broke it at the elbow. This caused Tobi to grunt at the feeling of his limb becoming and felt Naruto's foot strike his head before it hit the nearby wall. Tobi grabbed the leg with his one good arm and tried to push it away, but Naruto pushed back, and used his leg again to smash the man's head against the cave wall. After Naruto brought his leg down, he saw Tobi's face was bleeding heavily, scars littered his face from connecting with the jagged rocks of the underground base of the Akatsuki HQ underneath Ame, and had one of his eyes closed because of it.

"You think the world will know everlasting peace once I'm gone? It won't! The world will know pain, suffering, and loss from the wars that will come in the future. You may stop it should such a thing happen, but you won't live forever, and even Outer Heaven will fall to the hands of time as we all must do," said Tobi, as he breathed heavily now, and struggled to get up.

"I don't expect everlasting peace Tobi. I never did. What I want is to change the world for the better. You wanted to change the world for your own personal greed. Wars will come and go within the Elemental Countries, but make no mistake when I say Outer Heaven will always remain to help ensure such wars don't spiral out of control regardless of the times. We will not see this world and all the people in it are not destroyed," explained Naruto with Tobi scoffing at him.

"You're a fool! The world will burn without me ruling over it like a God. Only I can keep these people safe by controlling their every action," said Tobi while Naruto shot chakra strings to where his HF sword was and brought the weapon to his hand.

"That's not keeping them safe Tobi. That's enslavement," Naruto simply replied.

"If the system works," Tobi shot back with a sneer.

"That's the problem Tobi-teme. It _doesn't_ work. That's why you've lost. Its why you are about to die," replied Naruto while spinning his HF sword in his hand.

"I'll see you in Hell!" exclaimed Tobi, as rushed forward to possibly take down Naruto in a last ditch effort, but his foe was too fast, and clearly saw it coming.

A quick step back, chakra pushed to the bottom of his feet, Naruto moved forward with blinding speed, and sliced Tobi's head clean off with his HF sword. Tobi himself was shocked at first since the initial act wasn't felt for a few seconds, but moments later the stinging pain of flesh being cut opening, and the icy grip of death took hold. Tobi fell to his knees, clutching his throat for a second, trying to will his body to stay connected, but sadly for the fallen _supposed _Uchiha...gravity decided to factor into this, and the man's head detached from the rest of him.

"I may one day go to Hell for the things I've done. For the people I've killed and most likely will kill in the future. I don't know for sure. What I do know however, is that level in Hell you will be on will be much higher then my own, and my time in that place will be much shorter too," said Naruto to the dead body of Tobi before burning it into nothing via a Fire Jutsu.

(Outer Heaven-Sometime Later)

"It is done?" asked Nagato with Naruto returning with a nod that Tobi was indeed gone and Ame was now leaderless for now until their red haired Uzumaki returned.

"Yes. How are you holding up?" asked Naruto with the real man behind Pein sitting in the hospital bed with Konan beside him.

"I'm feeling better. Your wife is an amazing medic Naruto-san. Tsunade-sama taught her well," said Nagato seeing Naruto smirk and looked at his wife currently blushing upon eye contact with her husband.

They would definitely be having some "alone time" later.

"That my Godmother did and I'm proud of my wife's skills in healing. She's a healer first and a warrior second, but that's what I love about her," replied Naruto while seeing his loving wife go cherry red in the face.

It was always fun to make her blush.

"It will take a few years, but Nagato-san will regain full control of his body, and won't rely on the chair anymore," explained Hinata with Nagato smiling at the idea of being able to walk on his own two feet again.

Konan was happy too, but for _other _reasons since she wanted him mobile for _other_, and slightly more..._perverted _reasons.

Though she hid it well.

'Soon Nagato-kun will be healed to the point where we can be intimate and I can have his children! I WANT CHILDREN!' thought Konan while the image of her and Nagato rutting came into her mind and followed with the army of children they would have as a result.

Konan had a lot of pent up sexual frustration that needed to be released and by Kami she was going to see to it that Nagato satisfied her in _everyway_ possible. The book she had secretly bought on the black market titled "How to tie down your man and make him a Father of your children" by Nara Yoshino was practically memorized inside her head.

"That's good to hear. I want Nagato up on his feet and leading Ame down the right path," said Naruto with Nagato smiling at him.

"Thank you for everything you've done for us Big Boss-sama," said Nagato bowing his head slightly with Naruto shaking it off.

"There is no need for that. We're family. Just call me Naruto," replied Naruto since he didn't want his kin to bow down to him like that.

"Very well. Konan will need to return to Ame soon to keep the peace there while I am healing here. As my second-in-command, she can make sure there is no anarchy, and keep the people from losing their faith in me," explained Nagato with Naruto nodding his head in understanding.

"I have no problem with that. Also, the Biju you have sealed in that statue needs to be released soon, and you are the only one who can do it. Unless of course you want to just blow the damn thing up," said Naruto though the last part about blowing up the statue was offhanded.

"No! I mean I can set the Biju free in a few days from the statue," said Nagato while Naruto smirked at him and realized the leader of Outer Heaven was messing with him.

"Excellent! I'll talk to you later Nagato. Come on Hinata! Let's give the two love birds some alone time," said Naruto with Nagato and Konan blushing while Hinata followed her husband out.

"I want you," said Hinata huskily into his ear before kissing him.

"And I want you. Meet me at our special place in ten minutes," said Naruto with Hinata looking at him hungrily.

"I'll be there in five and I'll wear the outfit you love so much," said Hinata with Naruto grinning ear to ear.

"Have I told you how much I love you Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto with Hinata giving her own smirk.

"All the time. Though I'm sure you can prove it again when we're alone. See you in five," answered Hinata while walking away with a sway to her hips.

"Damn that woman is cruel vixen for teasing me with her ass like that. She's not walking straight for the next two weeks," said Naruto to himself while planning in his mind how to make his sexy wife pay for that enticing view.

Oh yes. Hinata would pay though he seriously doubted she would hate her "punishment" when Naruto got through with her.

(Epilogue-10 Years Later)

"Uzumaki Yahiko! You get back here this instant young man!" yelled Konan, as a blur ran through Outer Heaven to escape the pursuit of its forces hunting him down for the prank he pulled on Sabaku no Kankuro.

The poor man fainted when he looked into a mirror and saw his face looked like that of a Geisha and the dress to match. How Yahiko did it, only an Uzumaki could figure out, but they weren't talking since they were too busy laughing, and one was on the run away from his Mother.

"Man I wish I learned how to scatter into paper like Mom," said Yahiko while the red haired boy tried fleeing the high ranked pursuers, but was soon caught by his Mother, who had appeared via scattered paper, and was now looking him right in the eyes after lifting him up.

"Anything to say for yourself young man?" asked Konan with Yahiko sweating heavily under his Mother's piercing eyes.

"Uh well...I only did it because I felt the need to defend your honor when Kankuro-teme said he wanted to grope you," answered Yahiko with Konan narrowing her eyes at him.

"For your sake you better not be lying," said Konan with her tone telling Yahiko he was even deeper trouble if his words weren't true.

"I'm not! I'm not!" stated Yahiko frantically with Konan giving him "the look" that all children fear when it comes to their Mother's wanting the truth.

"We will see," said Konan before dragging Yahiko before their host in Outer Heaven.

"I swear pranking is genetic in the Uzumaki Clan," said Hinata from her position with Naruto smirking too at seeing Yahiko being dragged back.

"Maybe. Though we did stress to our kids not to pranks anyone in the family. Everyone else is fair game," replied Naruto knowing his kids from all his wives were like that too.

"I still wonder how they were able to dye Roshi's hair neon blue in broad daylight," said Hinata, as she remembered their eldest son Ichigo pranking the Jinchuriki, and Roshi was chasing him around while spewing lava at him.

"Roshi wondered the same thing too. Bee didn't show himself for a week after Kushina painted him in his sleep to look like a mime," said Naruto knowing his little girl was a real Hell raiser.

"Oh Kami! Don't remind me. When Shikamaru came to visit, those two pranked him by showing Gaara pictures of him kissing Temari. We had to use seals to restrain your friend from killing his future brother-in-law," said Hinata while the two of them laughed while recalling how Shikamaru ran like he never ran before in his life from an enraged Gaara while Temari was chasing after her brother to keep him from killing Shikamaru.

"Anko encourages them and the twins Minato and Jack with their actions. Not that I'm surprised since they have her wrapped around their fingers by bribing the woman with dango to look the other way," explained Naruto with Hinata shaking her head.

"You're one to talk. Enough ramen and you would say 'what prank?'" said Hinata with Naruto looking mockingly hurt.

"Oh! What about you Hinata-chan? One cinnamon bun from them to you and you're in a whole different dimension when they go about causing mayhem," countered Naruto with Hinata blushing.

"Shut up," mumbled Hinata with Naruto chuckling at her.

"Why? Because its true?" asked Naruto knowing he had his wife dead to rights on the subject.

"Maybe. Come on. Let's go inside with the others. I want to see the pictures Anko took of Kankuro in a Geisha clothing again," said Hinata with Naruto laughing.

"Me too," said Naruto before the two went to the main room where his family and friends were talking.

"Happy Birthday Naruto-kun," said Hinata with Naruto smiling and kissing her on the lips.

"Thanks Hinata-chan. Being with you, my other wives, all of my children, and my friends I've made over the years is the best birthday I could ever ask for," replied Naruto with the cake being rolled out by Bee.

"Hey! Its Bee with the cake and no the icing isn't fake. No lady is going to rise so all you ladies in the room don't despise," said Bee with everyone groaning at his rapping.

"You need to wish him to stop rapping," said Hinata with Naruto nodding.

"I've tried that already. That's the one wish I can get granted," said Naruto with a sigh.

"Damn," whispered Hinata with Naruto chuckling.

"Agreed. Maybe I'll get lucky this time though," said Naruto before walking over to the cake with his children telling him to blow out the candles and make a wish.

Though if he was honest with himself...Naruto had everything he needed and didn't want anything else.

-FIN

(Omake-Naruto's Wish Granted)

"Happy Birthday Naruto-kun," said Hinata with Naruto smiling and kissing her on the lips.

"Thanks Hinata-chan. Being with you, my other wives, all of my children, and my friends I've made over the years is the best birthday I could ever ask for," replied Naruto with the cake being rolled out by Bee.

"Hey! Its Bee with the cake and no the icing isn't fake. No lady is going to rise so all you ladies in the room don't despise," said Bee with everyone groaning at his rapping.

"You need to wish him to stop rapping," said Hinata with Naruto nodding.

"I've tried that already. That's the one wish I can get granted," said Naruto with a sigh.

"Damn," whispered Hinata with Naruto chuckling.

"Agreed. Maybe I'll get lucky this time though," said Naruto before walking over to the cake with his children telling him to blow out the candles and make a wish.

And decided to wishing for Bee to not rap. Just for the Hell of it.

"So what did you wish for. Was it good or bad?" asked Bee before he looked shocked like everyone else that he wasn't rapping.

"He didn't rap!" exclaimed Anko while pointing dramatically at Bee.

"What the Hell? I want to rap damn it! AHHH! I'm talking like a normal person. AH!" exclaimed Bee falling to his knees and crying at the horror of his rapping career going down the drain.

"Holy crap! Its the end of the world!" exclaimed Kankuro before jumping out the nearest window.

"Your wish worked Naruto-kun," whispered Hinata while seeing Bee begin weeping and Yugito doing a little dance.

"Yeah. Just don't let Bee hear you say that or else you'll be turning my birthday into my funeral," Naruto whispered with Hinata letting out a giggle.

"Why must the world be cruel and take my rapping away from me?" whimpered a now depressed Bee while Yugito danced around happily and throwing around flowers.

As for Kankuro? Well...no one cared about Kankuro.

(End Omake)

(A/N: YAY! One final update and its done! Hope you all enjoyed it. Now onto the next great adventure! Until next time...PEACE!)


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